Gibson's calculated risk pays off in tournament win
After unanimously grabbing the No. 1 seed in the Sectional tournament, head coach Tom Gibson elected to forego an opening round bye, instead opting to play in a first round game against whatever opponent would have the misfortune of stacking up against the top-seeded 17-1 Hawks.
While some coaches questioned the move, what it did was set Hiland up as the home team should it advance to District play, and with a formidable foe destined to come out of the other District bracket, Gibson wanted every advantage he could muster for what will be a tough game in district play regardless of who comes out of it.
Gibson’s Hawks made him look like a genius, coming out hitting shots in the opening contest against Conotton Valley in the May 9 match-up. B.J. Miller gave Hiland all the runs it would need, pounding a 2-0 pitch high over the wall in left field, bringing home Hayden Mobley who had singled. One inning later, the Hawks added a giant exclamation point, plating nine runs. After grant Troyer reached on an error with one out, Nicky Yoder singled him home after he stole second. Luke Burch then doubled Yoder home, and Mobley singled to put runners on the corners. Miller then crushed a double plating another run, and Kenny Miller duplicated the feat. Kendall Wagler reached via an error, Jalen Miller singled home a run, and after starting pitcher Brad Schlabach was hit by a pitch, Troyer knocked in a run with a single to make it 10-0. Burch added one more run with a single for the final tally.
On the other end of the diamond, Schlabach was cruising to his fifth win of the season. The senior ace, who boasts a sparkling 0.75 ERA, proved to be nearly unhittable, allowing just two meaningless singles while striking out seven, walking a pair and hitting a batter.
“Bradley did what he always does,” said Gibson. “He took care of business. His walks were a little uncharacteristic, but he threw the ball pretty well. He’s been off for a little while, so it looked like there was a little rust there, but he did fine.”
As for the decision to avoid the free pass in the opening round, Gibson said, “It just made sense to us. (The coaching staff) talked about it, and we felt like it was the best thing to do in setting us up moving forward in the tournament. We actually thought that getting in another game would keep us sharp, and we have the pitching depth that this kind of a game isn’t going to hurt us at this time of the year like it would some teams.”
That proved to be true the following night, when the Hawks took on Tuscarawas Central Catholic, which still had a shot at tying Hiland for the Inter-Valley Conference title. However, because of the hectic schedule of regular season make-up games and tournament play, teams are saving their top pitchers for the all-important tournament games.
Hiland took advantage of avoiding TCC’s second tier pitchers, and put up eight runs in the first inning to spoil any drama that might have been lurking in the contest.
By the time the Hawks had gone once through the batting order, Troyer, Nicky Yoder, Burch, Mobley, Jalen Miller, and Alex Schmucker had all singled, and when starting pitcher Kendall Wagler drove a double to right, Hiland held a 6-0 lead. Yoder then doubled in his second at bat of the inning to make it 8-0.
Hiland then put the game away in the bottom of the fourth, plating four more runs. Yoder spanked his third hit of the game, went to second on a Burch single, and after Mobley walked, Kenny Miller swatted a double to left, and Schmucker and Wagler both followed with singles.
Meanwhile, Wagler was cutting down the Saints, allowing only four singles, a pair of walks and striking out one. Wagler improved to 4-0 on the year, lowering his ERA to 1.93.
According to Gibson, some of the drama was removed from the IVC game in the fact that the Saints are facing a rough series of tournament games in a short span, also the product of Hiland’s gamble.
“I think TCC came in here feeling like they had nothing to win if they went all out and spent their pitching,” said Gibson. But what really took the edge off the game was that we had three IVC games left to play and only needed one win to lock up the conference championship, so there wasn’t a ton of pressure on us. We didn’t absolutely have to win this game, so we played pretty relaxed.”
The win ensured another Inter-Valley Conference title for the Hawks, one of a number of goals the now 19-1 Hawks put on their plate for the season.