LEXINGTON, Ky. – After sparkling pitching through the entire postseason, the Campbell County baseball team had a rough night to end its season in an offensive slugfest.
The Camels lost 14-10 to Apollo in the quarterfinals of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state baseball tournament June 6 at Legends Field. Campbell finishes 26-14 this season. Apollo, 23-12, moves on to next weekend’s semifinals.
The game featured 29 hits, 11 walks, four errors and four home runs. Despite a lot of adversity, the Camels brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the seventh.
Apollo came in on a roll after knocking off Whitley County, No. 2 in the state, in the first round the day before.
The Eagles brought that momentum to the next round, jumping on the Camels for six runs in the first inning.
In that inning, the Camels did things they hadn’t done in six previous playoff games. They gave up five hits, two walks and committed two errors.
Campbell got two runs back right away in the first inning. Jackson Bittner and Trip Mercurio led off with singles. Tyler Schumacher drove Bittner in with a single to right. Gavin Kramer hit a sacrifice fly to score Mercurio and make it 6-2.
Camden Tiemeier walked, with Schumacher advancing to third on a wild pitch along the way.
With one out, Gavin Richardson grounded to second base, with Schumacher scoring. The Eagles got the force at second, but Tiemeier was called for interference for making contact with the shortstop on the throw, and he was called out to take a third run off the board and end the inning.
Senior Lucas Anthrop gave up all six runs in the first inning, but shut out the Eagles on two hits in the next four innings. He threw 91 pitches.
“I was happy for him,” Campbell head coach Scott Schweitzer said. “There were people here to watch him pitch. He struggled early. Zones are always a little tighter in the postseason. He didn’t get ahead early and they didn’t miss a barrel, then he just battled and battled. Hat’s off to him. The bullpen didn’t work out as expected, but that’s baseball.”
The Camels pulled within three when Schumacher tripled with two outs, and Kramer drove him in with a single.
The Camels had further opportunities. In the fourth, the Camels left the bases loaded after Bittner collected his second hit of the game with two outs.
In the fifth, they left runners at first and third after Schumacher led off with his third hit of the game.
Apollo made them pay in the sixth, scoring four runs on three hits in a row, then two hit batters and two walks.
The Camels got five in the sixth to climb within two, all coming with two outs. Bittner singled for his third hit. Mercurio walked. Schumacher doubled to left to score two, his fourth hit of the game. Kramer singled in Schumacher.
Tiemeier followed with his second home run in as many nights, scoring Kramer and making it 10-8. It was his 11th homer and his 63rd RBI.
It didn’t last, as Apollo scored four more runs in the seventh. Ty Lillpop hit a two-run home run and Gunnar Hendricks followed with his eighth homer of the season to make it 14-8.
Campbell senior Jeb Kessinger ended his career with a big highlight as he homered in the seventh inning, his first career long ball.
Bittner singled for his fourth hit after a Micah Price single, his second.
Ty Lillpop, the starting pitcher, came back on the mound to finish. Walks to Mercurio and Kramer made it a 14-10 game, and the Camels had the bases loaded with one out.
Lillpop then had issues with cramps. He was looked at by trainers for several minutes but stayed in the game.
Tiemeier, representing the tying run, popped up off Lillpop, who then got Richardson to ground out to third to end it.
“We chased six almost the whole game. Every time we had a comeback, it didn’t go our way. Kudos to our guys. They really battled. We got through their bullpen and back to their starter. It’s real easy to roll over when adversity hits you, but they didn’t roll over at all. They answered every call they could but they just couldn’t get enough.”
Bittner finished with four hits and two runs scored. Schumacher had four hits, two runs and two RBIs. Kramer posted two hits and five RBIs. Schumacher finished with 59 runs, 38 RBIs, 24 extra base hits and a .512 average. Kramer finished with 44 RBIs.
Senior salute
Campbell County seniors are Tyler Schumacher, Cam Tiemeier, Jackson Bittner, Gavin Richardson, Lucas Anthrop, Gino Ramundo, Jeb Kessinger, Nolan Thomas, Benton Bowling and William Peed.
“I told them I was proud of them,” Schweitzer said. “I don’t sit and talk about that one game because that won’t define them. Ten seniors, most of them are five-year players in our program. 26-win season, elite eight, that’s carrying the torch and continuing to pass the torch.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Campbell County baseball fights back, but falls at state
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
