Springfield baseball team in state final
Springfield overcomes early deficit to get past Tinora
By Tom Williams
COLUMBUS
Trailing by four runs in the third inning, Springfield High shortstop Cody Pitzo admitted things did not look good.
“I’m not going to lie — I was down for a little bit,” Pitzo said. “But we kept our heads up in the dugout and stayed cheering, got loud.
“We might have gotten into their heads a little bit.”
The Tigers scored five times in the fourth inning to chase Defiance Tinora ace Clay Pittman and continued to pound out hits in a 13-7 victory in a Division IV state semifinal Friday at Huntington Park.
The Tigers will play Newark Catholic for the state championship at noon on Sunday.
“When the game ended, all I could think of was our commencement is on Sunday and we’re going to get our diplomas at home plate,” said senior second baseman Eoghan Bees, who was on base five times. “To be able to share that with the seniors I’m with, it’s unbelievable.
“I can’t even tell you how great it is, in my wildest dreams I never could have imagined my senior year ending any better.”
Tinora (19-8) scored five times in the third inning for a 6-2 lead. The Tigers rebounded with a five-run fourth inning that shattered the Rams.
Bees doubled, took third on sophomore Ryan Koehler’s single and came home on catcher E.J. Kissel’s wild throw to third.
Pitzo doubled home Koehler, then scored on Hunter Snyder’s hit. After Dalton Donachie singled, the Tigers truck twice when the Rams botched rundown plays between second and first. Snyder and Donachie scored to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead.
Springfield coach Matt Weymer admitted he was willing to sacrifice an out at second to tie the game.
“The second one was trying to put icing on the cake,” Weymer said. “I don’t want to say that I’ll always be that aggressive, but we pushed a lot of runs across and it worked out nice.
SDLqOnce you get a team on its heels, you want to really make sure you take advantage.”
The Tigers added two runs in the fifth inning. Snyder drove in one with a sacrifice fly. The other came home on an error.
Four more runs in the sixth inning sent the Tigers to their third state title game in five seasons.
Koehler’s four hits included a double in the first inning and a triple in the sixth.
Koehler said he’s had a couple of four-hit games.
“But nothing like this,” Koehler said after reaching base five times. “Nothing means more than having it in a state game.”
Trailing 2-1, the Rams scored five times in the third inning. Four walks — one intentional — were the main culprits.
Logan Dickerson’s double was followed by a walk, a sacrifice bunt, an intentional pass to Pittman and RBI walks to Derek Drewes and Brevin Renollet for a 3-2 lead.
Dakota Stark singled to score Pittman and Drewes came home when catcher Snyder threw wildly to third base. Dylan Rumbaugh’s sacrifice fly made it 6-2.
“They had a great inning,” Bees said. “And they came out and shut us down at the plate. That was the first time that we didn’t score, it was kind of nerve-wracking. It was scary thinking maybe this team is going to end up beating us.
“But we just jumped all over their pitcher. One through nine, it was really a group effort. We had kids getting extra-base hits like crazy. It was just one of the best games I’ve ever played in.”
Donachie pitched four innings before being relieved by James Hillyer. Donachie has six innings of eligibility for Sunday’s game