HEATH ― Quentin Sunkle’s day actually started in the morning at Dave Klontz Field, well before the Heath senior took the mound in arguably the biggest start of his career on May 23.
Then, what was scheduled to be a 2 p.m. first pitch for the Division IV tournament opener, and rubber game against neighboring rival Lakewood, was eventually pushed back to 5 o’clock as even the well-manicured field had soft infield spots from heavy rain.
However, for Sunkle and the eight other seniors playing their final home game, it didn’t matter. He pitched a masterful four-hitter, retiring 14 in a row at one point, and the fifth-seeded Bulldogs held off Carter Davis and the ninth-seeded Lancers in a 2-1 pitchers duel.
“He lives nearby, walked over and showed up this morning when we were working on the field,” said first-year Heath coach Austin Morrow, who got his first-ever postseason win. “He said he had to go on a walk, get his mind right. He’s a phenomenal player, but is a way better and unbelievable person.”
Said Sunkle: “I thought before the game, I would come over this morning, see how everything was being set up, and embraced it all. Then I got here about 12 to get ready. I got a little emotional, just thinking about everything.”
Davis, a talented junior who surprisingly returned from injury this season, allowed only five hits and struck out eight. Sunkle, who fanned just three but walked only one, was just a little better, inducing 13 fly ball outs, as Heath (14-11) advanced to play at third-seeded Buckeye Valley (18-5) on May 27 in a district semifinal.
“We got here like 12:45, so we waited like four hours,” said Lancers’ coach and Carter’s dad Chuck Davis. “It takes a toll on your routine. But both teams had to deal with it.”
A brief wild streak and one swing of the bat were just enough to push the Bulldogs over the top.
After Macksen Matthews beat out a two-out infield chopper in the second, Davis walked Drew Gostrue, Sunkle and Jamison Walsh, forcing in a run to make it 1-0. Then, senior third baseman Dominic Morris clouted a towering homer over the left-center field fence leading off the third for what proved to be the winning run.
It was just his second home run of the season.
“I felt good going into the game, and even better going out of this game,” said Morris, who also doubled and singled and went 3 for 3. “We said we have to advance, and more than that, we have to beat Lakewood.”
Singles by Garrett Hardway and Jaxson Marlo, sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt by Carson Pound, put Lancers at second and third with one out in the second. But Sunkle struck out Grayson Ullman and got Gavin Kessler to line to center, as he pumped his fist, then retired the next 12 hitters.
“Part of my game is, my fastball is pretty firm, but I’m not going to blow it by people,” explained Sunkle. “This is our third time playing them, so I know their hitters, tried to hit my spots, make them look to a certain space and hit my pitch.”
Morris said he has known Sunkle since they were younger, and it was as locked in and throwing strikes as he had ever seen him. He threw just 70 pitches, 51 for strikes, after allowing just three hits on 75 pitches, 52 for strikes, in a shutout of Tri-Valley last weekend.
“He’s really good, and he’s a pitcher, not a thrower,” coach Davis said. “We popped too many balls up.”
Morrow gave a lot of credit to senior catcher Carter Mason, who has called every pitch this season.
“He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around,” he said. “Just with the sequencing and mixing it up. He knows our pitchers, and he knows our opponents.”
Carter Davis finally broke Sunkle’s streak in the seventh with a single to left and went to second on Pound’s groundout. Then Marlo singled to right and Davis scored when the outfielder bobbled the ball. But Sunkle ended the game with a strikeout.
When Carter Davis hurt his knee early in the season, his return seemed unlikely. But he battled back with physical therapy and sparked Lakewood (9-16) to playing its best ball the second half of the year.
“I’m very proud of him and very proud of the team,” coach Davis said. “They never quit, never gave up. We were playing good baseball at the end. We beat Fairfield Union, which won its league, and we played Jonathan Alder tough and lost 4-1. But we’re going to miss our four seniors, for sure.”
One of them, center fielder Jalen White, saved a run in the fifth when he dove into left center, snagging Mason’s shot, then doubling a runner off second. “It was a special play,” coach Davis said.
Heath is launching what it hopes is a postseason revenge tour. The Lancers hurt the Bulldogs’ Licking County League-Cardinal Division title chances with a late 2-0 win at Klontz Field, while they also lost a 6-5 heartbreaker to Buckeye Valley and 6-4 late to second-seeded Licking Valley, a possible opponent in the district finals.
“There were other reasons we lost the (LCL) title by a game, but they (Lakewood) really spoiled it for us,” Morrow said. “I thought we showed a little grit today off of that. We had a great week of practice. It’s been tough, with graduation, graduation parties and a lot of distractions, but these are good kids and they care about each other.”
Said Morris: “Right now, we’re going to keep improving, and that’s going to give us a good chance against those teams.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Worth the wait for Sunkle, Heath in tournament win against Lakewood
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
