XENIA — Teays Valley’s first trip to the regional baseball tournament since 1985 took an unexpected turn in the second inning as Loveland scored nine times in the frame on the way to beating the Vikings 13-2 in five innings.
The Division II regional semifinal started off normal enough with both teams stranding a runner in a scoreless first inning.
The second started off pretty much the same way with a fly ball to center and a groundout to second base. But then things went south for the Vikings as starting pitcher Brody Mann began to struggle finding the home plate umpire’s tight strike zone.
Sixteen of his 20 pitches were called balls for four consecutive walks and a run before Brady Stidham singled to right. The throw went home to try and get the second runner, but Adam Lake upended TV catcher Luke Smith as the ball got through, allowing another run to score and Stidham to move to second.
Stidham took third on a passed ball and then scored on a passed ball for a 5-0 Loveland lead.
Three more walks loaded the bases, setting up Loveland’s Dylan Hacker who tripled to right to clear the bases.
That spelled the end of the afternoon on the mound for Mann as Tanner Smith took over.
A single from Blake Hatfield scored Hacker and a walk and hit batter loaded the bases before a fly ball to right field brought the top of the second to an end with Loveland up 9-0.
Mann threw a little more than 100 pitches in his inning and two-thirds of work. He walked seven with three hits and all nine runs were earned.
“We thought we were in the zone more than what was given to us,” TV coach Mark Colburn said of the struggle to throw strikes. “Unfortunately, you can only control what you can control. You’ve got to throw it down the middle and when it’s not called, it’s kind of rough.”
The Vikings came out in their half of the second with a bit of fireworks as Jayden Morrison led off with a triple to the gap in left-center and scored when the throw got away from the third baseman. Tyler Mathews was hit by a pitch to get on base, but Loveland’s Henry Bradley settled down to record a strikeout looking, a fly ball to center and another strikeout to get out of the inning leading 9-1.
Gavin Gilpen came on to start the third for the Vikings and gave up a couple of hits, but the score stayed 9-1.
TV added a run in the bottom of the third When Westin Woodrum led off with a single, took second on a wild pitch and then scored when Trevor Hamilton reached on an error to make it 9-2.
The fourth started with Loveland loading the bases on a walk, an error and hit batter. CJ Margraf then hit a hard ground ball to left that brought in two runs. Following a sacrifice bunt, a fly ball to left allowed another run to score for a 12-2 Loveland lead.
The Tigers added one more run in the top of the fifth when a two-out walk was followed by Hatfield connecting on an RBI double.
Peyton McElfresh started off TV’s last at-bat with a single but a fly ball to center and two ground balls to second base brought the game to a close.
“It’s definitely hard to come back from a few runs, let alone nine runs,” Colburn said. “But I’m proud of the guys for getting some quality at-bats, getting some runs across the board and fighting for the people who showed up today.”
Bradley went all five innings for the Tigers. He struck out nine, did not issue a walk, gave up four hits and two unearned runs.
Smith worked the end of the second for the Vikings walking one and allowing one hit.
Gilpen worked two innings. He walked one, gave up two hits and three runs (one earned).
Luke Reese pitched the final inning – walking one, allowing a hit and one earned run.
The Vikings say goodbye to an eight-man group of seniors who won 21 games and captured the OCC Buckeye championship in their first year in the league.
“We just told them that they have set the tone, set the foundation for future classes and all the kids who showed up today,” Colburn said. “They set a standard for what we can possibly do in the future.”
Loveland (22-7) advances to play Anthony Wayne (22-4) — a 3-2 winner over Edgewood — Thursday afternoon with a shot at the state final four on the line.
