Hiland seniors capture District title

  • By Dave Mast of The Holmes County Journal
  • December 4, 2009
  • 638
                        
The Hiland senior team powered its way through District play on its way to earning a State berth in Painesville next week, where they will vie, with six other teams throughout Ohio, for a spot in the Missouri Regional tournament. The Hawks left little room for any doubt as to their District dominance this past week, finishing off Indian Valley with a 15-5 blowout. Hiland left-hander Luke Burch overcame some control issues in the first inning, and after walking three Indian Valley hitters, struck out the final two Braves of the inning to leave the bases full. Hiland then came in and laid waste to Indian Valley, plating seven runs before the second inning was through. Burch got the party started, lacing a single to left. Danny Beachy followed with a single, and after Hayden Mobley grounded out, Jalen Miller roped a double, making it 2-0. Jeremy Schlabach then plated Miller. Ryan Troyer singled in Miller to make it 4-0. After Burch cruised through the second, Hiland came out swinging in the bottom, plating three more runs for a 7-0 lead. However, Indian Valley began pecking away, and Burch continued to struggle with location. He gave up one but again escaped with the bases loaded in the third to make it 7-1. Hiland answered right back with one of their own to make it 8-1, before the Braves got another run in the fourth. Hiland again reciprocated, making it 9-2, before Indian Valley plated three in the top of the fifth, chasing Burch with the score 9-5. However, Jalen Miller slammed the door the rest of the way, and Hiland scored three in the fifth and two in the sixth, invoking the mercy rule after gaining the 10-run lead. *** The Hiland Tri-County team, made up of roughly the same group of players, won their semifinal tournament game in Tri-County play, topping Ridgewood 4-2, and advancing to the finals. The Hawks were buoyed by an exceptional effort on the mound by starter Caleb Schlabach and reliever Danny Beachy. Schlabach surrendered a run through four, and Beachy gave up one unearned run in the seventh in victory. Neil Mast lined a single to left for the go-ahead run, giving Hiland a 2-1 lead. It wasn’t until the bottom of the sixth when Hiland got a little insurance. Burch led off with a towering triple to center and scored on Beachy’s sharp liner to left. After moving to third on Jordan Miller’s single. Brandon Wengerd then fouled off several pitches before lining a single to center to make it 4-1. Hiland played in the finals Tuesday night.


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load