Springfield baseball bows out in regional final

June 2, 2019 at 12:05a.m.

Eynon, fellow seniors Brungard, Orbin were Tigers’ leaders

STRONGSVILLE

For four years no matter the season, Shane Eynon has been a fixture on the fields or courts for Springfield High School.

Eynon’s competitive athletic career came to an end Saturday with the Tigers’ 16-2 loss to Jeromesville Hillsdale in the Division IV baseball regional final at Strongsville High School.

This fall, Eynon will be a student at Youngstown State University and major in engineering.

“I’ve decided not to play any sports,” said Eynon, who has lettered in football, basketball and baseball. “It’s going to be a lot different because basically all of my high school [life] has revolved around sports.

“Sometimes they overlapped if [we] had a successful season and it’s just been a continuous loop,” said Eynon, a pitcher and first baseman.

Saturday’s loss did reflect on how well the Tigers (26-4) did this season in coming one win short of a trip to state for the first time since 2013.

Head coach Terry Dobson credited his three seniors (Eynon, Brannon Brungard and Jarrett Orbin) whom he has coached for four seasons for leadership.

“They put us here,” Dobson said. “They are going to be missed.”

Brungard, a center fielder, will play football for Grove City College in the fall.

“This sucks — I’ve played since tee ball,” Brungard said. “To play this long and for it to come to an end like this, it [hurts].

“This year has been so fun playing with this team,” Brungard said. “These are some of my best friends. It’s crazy for it to end like this.”

The Tigers scored twice in the top of the first inning. After John Slike reached on an error by shortstop Evan Rottman, he scored when left fielder Garrett Smith couldn’t pull down Mitchell Seymour’s line drive. Chris Thompson’s RBI single made it 2-0.

The Falcons (28-2) responded with an eight-run first inning that was boosted by a tough call.

Garrett Goodwin walked and took third base on Jay Luikart’s one-out double. He scored after Briar Funk hit a deep foul to right fielder Seymour. Thompson walked the next two batters to load the bases and Dobson switched to Drew Clark.

Rottman hit a foul pop behind home plate. Orbin, the catcher, struggled looking into a bright sky, but found the ball and caught it. As his glove came down, the ball rolled out.

“He caught the ball and he flipped the ball out of his glove to come to the dugout,” Dobson said.

The umpire ruled foul ball.

“He said I didn’t use two hands so it wasn’t a complete catch,” said Orbin, who will play for Geneva College. “I’ve always caught it with my glove and just tossed it.

Of the explanation he received, Dobson said, “He said [Orbin] has to transfer it out with his hand.

“I said, ‘Did he catch the ball and he said, ‘Yeah, but he didn’t transfer it out.’”

Rottman was hit by a pitch to tie the game, then the Falcons packaged three hits and two errors for an 8-2 lead.

“We created our own problems,” Dobson said. “I preach mental toughness and these are some of the things you have to overcome.

“We picked a bad day to melt down, we picked a very bad day to play our worst game of the year.”

Against Goodwin, the Tigers stranded two runners in the third inning and another in the fifth inning.

“Honestly, it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen this year,” Brungard said. “He was hitting his spots real well.”

Eynon agreed.

“His spots, I couldn’t hit him,” Eynon said. “Great pitcher.

“When we shot ourself in the foot, they put an exclamation mark on it — great team.”

Thompson had both of the Tigers’ hits.

“Over the course of the year, the team bonded,” said Orbin, who will study biology. “I couldn’t be more proud of how this team [played]. It’s not how we wanted to [finish] but the way this team bonded, it’s a good way to go out as a senior.

“Hopefully, the underclassmen look at this and use this next year to get better and hopefully make it [to state].”