LEXINGTON, Ky. – In its state tournament debut, the Campbell County High School baseball team allowed a run for the first time in the 2026 postseason.
It didn’t matter, as it came with only one out to go in the Camels’ sixth playoff win in a row. The Camels built a big lead and held it for a 6-1 win over LaRue County in the first round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state baseball tournament June 5 at Legends Field in Lexington.
Campbell (26-13) will play in the third quarterfinal game 5 p.m. Saturday, June 6, also at Legends Field. LaRue, ranked 21st in the state by Prep Baseball Report, finishes 30-9.
The Camels haven’t been to state since 2022, so the players enjoyed their first tourney experience.
“It’s something you dream of,” said senior catcher Cam Tiemeier. “This is what you want to play for. State championship is all you care about when you’re playing.”
The Camels had not allowed a run since a 20-1 rout of Lloyd Memorial to end the regular season. Not counting the final innings of that game, they went through five complete games and 37.2 innings of shutout ball before LaRue scored with two outs in the seventh.
Campbell senior Tyler Schumacher pitched another gem. He allowed six hits and four walks, striking out nine. He threw 113 pitches. The Marshall commit improved to 9-1 and his ERA stayed at 1.03. He has 116 strikeouts in 68 innings. He left five runners in scoring position.
“I wanted to keep the streak going, but I’ll take that win any day,” Schumacher said. “That’s a really good team. Just winning that game was big.”
Tiemeier has fun being his catcher.
“He’s always there,” he said. “He’s always in the zone, and you always know what you’re going to get out of him. You know you’re getting a bulldog mentality out there on the mound. He’s going to compete.”
In the first inning, LaRue had a runner on third with two outs after a stolen base and a throwing error. Schumacher struck out the cleanup batter, his opposite number, Brady Skaggs.
In the second, Kobe Cahoe got a leadoff single for LaRue. With runners on first and second, Cahoe advanced to third when a popup went over the head of second baseman Finley Schultz. Right fielder Jeb Kessinger was able to get the ball and throw to second for the force. Schumacher struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Schumacher stranded a runner at third in the third inning, getting Skaggs to ground out on a close call at first in which it appeared he was safe. Schumacher retired the side in order in the fourth and left another runner at third in the fifth.
In the seventh, Bittner preserved the shutout with a running catch in the gap in center field to start the inning, preventing an extra-base hit. LaRue got a run on two hits after that. Head coach Scott Schweitzer went to the mound to talk to Schumacher during the inning and Schumacher told him he was good to go.
“Just got to stay in the game and know your stuff’s better than the hitter,” Schumacher said. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a runner on third base, you’re going to get this guy out.”
“He’s done it all year,” Schweitzer said. “He pitched himself into some troubles and then pitched himself out. He never gets his feathers ruffled.”
On offense, the Camels got seven hits, five for extra bases.
The Camels struck first in their opening at-bat. They got a leadoff single by Jackson Bittner, Trip Mercurio bunted him to second. Schumacher ripped a double down the left-field line to drive him in for his 36th RBI of the season.
The Camels got three runs in the third with two big hits off LaRue’s Skaggs and some shaky defense from the Hawks.
Finley Schultz started with a double to right center. Bittner moved him over to third with a grounder.
Trip Mercurio grounded to first base. Braden Brooks’s throw beat Schultz home but the catcher couldn’t hold on to the ball, and Schultz scored to give Campbell a 2-0 lead.
With two outs, Gavin Kramer reached on an error by the left fielder, which proved to be costly for LaRue as Camden Tiemeier doubled to the gap in left center, scoring one run. Another scored on a fielding error during the play to make it 4-0.
In the fifth, Schumacher singled for his second hit of the game. Tiemeier launched a deep home run to left field, his 10th of the year, to give the Camels a 6-0 lead. He ended the game with 60 RBIs.
Tiemeier is hitting over .450 with 12 doubles, 10 homers, a triple and those 60 RBIs.
“The first at-bat, I got to see a lot of pitches,” Tiemeier said. “You kind of knew what you were expecting coming up the second time. It was big time the guys got on in front of me. (The double) I was looking for something offspeed, looking to be out front and get elevation. The home run, he definitely changed how he was attacking hitters. He was going more fastballs. He honestly beat me on two, (then) he left one there for me and you can’t miss when they leave them there.”
In the sixth, senior Lucas Anthrop led off with a triple but was left there. Six different Camels scored runs.
The Camels committed one error in the game but made big plays on defense throughout.
“Defense and pitching have brought us here, big time,” Tiemeier said. “There were some huge plays behind us. Jackson Bittner’s catch out there in center field. Finley Schultz made a few big plays at second base. Gavin Richardson good play at third base. Trip Mercurio quite a few nice plays (at shortstop). Gavin Kramer played a really good game at first base.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Campbell County beats LaRue County in state baseball tournament opener
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
