CHILLICOTHE — Circleville broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth on the way to advancing past Dover 3-1 Thursday afternoon.
The Tigers now move on to face Licking Valley in a Division III regional championship game at VA Memorial Stadium. It will be the first time the Tigers have played in a regional championship since beating Steubenville in 2018.
“I told them, and I think they felt the same way, we came over here expecting to win,” Circleville coach Brian Bigam said. “I think they’re the fourth team that’s made it to the Elite Eight.
“If you take in the grand scheme of things, over the 70-plus years of Circleville baseball, they’re one of four teams that has made it to this point. I hope they’re not satisfied with where they’re at and come with the same mindset and focus tomorrow.”
Baserunners were limited for both teams in the early innings.
Trent Smith, Circleville’s starting pitcher, opened the fourth with what was only the Tigers’ second hit of the afternoon, but it was a big one as he hit a standup triple to right. He stayed at third as Dover’s Colin Bruno struck out the next better and got a popup in foul territory that was snagged by the first baseman.
Chase Foster then came to the plate and hit a chopper that the third baseman wasn’t able to get to in time allowing Smith to score and Foster to reach first.
“I thought Dover and us, both, really squared some balls up early, we just hit a lot of balls at people,” Bigam said. “And it’s kind of funny that the first run that came across was what I would call a brand-new turf, bouncy, rubbery type thing and the third baseman had to come get it. But that’s baseball, though — sometimes you hit it at them and sometimes you get cheap ones like that.”
Back on the mound in the fifth, Smith recorded his third 1-2-3 inning with a fly ball to right, got a batter looking and a groundout to second.
“In a game like that with two very good teams, you get the lead and we can breathe a little, they might tighten up a little and we were able to take advantage from there,” Bigam said.
In the bottom of the fifth with one out, Kiser Cassidy put down a bunt on the first pitch he saw and went headfirst into first base to beat the throw for a hit. Glavine Bigam was next at the plate and smacked the first pitch he saw down the right field line for a triple to score Cassidy. Smith then shot the first pitch he saw past a diving shortstop to plate Bigam – giving Circleville a 3-0 lead.
Dover got a pair of runners on base in the sixth with a one-out single and a two-out single. A ground ball to short ended the threat.
Circleville went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth.
The Tornadoes gave themselves a bit of life when Aiden Immel opened the seventh with a hard ground ball that led to an error. He took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a groundball out. He scored on a grounder to second to make it 3-1 with two outs.
Smith went to a full count on the next batter before getting him to look at a called third strike to end the game.
“We had the one error, but I was happy we just bounced back,” Bigam said. “We bounced back and make the next play.
“I thought Trent was calm and cool on the mound, and not much really affected him.”
Smith struck out four in the game and walked only one. And that walk in the first inning was a strategy play. “We weren’t going to give the guy in the four-hole a pitch to hit with first base open,” Bigam said.
Smith spread out four hits and the one run was unearned.
“What really helped me out was having a scouting report on the other team,” Smith said. “I knew all the pitches I needed to throw, and it really worked out the whole game.”
With only four strikeouts, the Tigers’ defense came through. The outfielders snagged seven flys balls, there two popups in the infield and seven assists went to the infield. Cassidy had three of those assists at third, with a couple of outstanding plays.
“Kiser Cassidy was amazing at third base. I have a good infield, and the outfield was online tonight,” Smith said.
Bruno struck out two and did not issue a walk for Dover. He allowed just six hits.
Smith had two of the hits as did Foster. Bigam and Kiser had the other two.
Circleville will face off against Licking Valley – a 2-0 winner over Bishop Watterson – with a 5 p.m. first pitch Friday afternoon.
