CANTON — The act of surviving and advancing in high school tournament baseball does not require textbook performances.
Sometimes, a little help goes a long way.
Hoover scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to a Green error to beat the Bulldogs 3-2 in the Division II Northeast 5 district final at Munson Stadium on Thursday, May 28.
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“We will take it any way we can,” Hoover coach Bryan Ashby said with a good bit of relief in his voice. “I’m just proud of the players and the way they stuck with it. There was no give-up.”
Hoover’s Brady Hassen, who reentered as a runner after pinch hitter Harrison Fleishour drew a one-out walk in the eighth, scored the winning run when the potential third out was dropped at first base after a throw across the infield on a groundball.
Multiple Bulldogs crumpled to the turf in agony while the Vikings dogpiled on the infield to celebrate their third straight trip to the regionals. Hoover will face Hudson in a 2 p.m. regional semifinal at Oberlin College on Wednesday, June 3.
“There’s no better feeling, especially doing it on a walk-off,” Hoover senior Jack Andes said. “That was awesome.”
Andes (5-0) pitched 2⅔ innings of scoreless relief to get the win. The Bowling Green recruit faced quite the jam to begin the top of the eighth when a Hoover error and a single put runners on second and third with no outs.
Andes’ escape act included an infield pop-up, a ground ball leading to the runner at third being out in a rundown and a strikeout.
“In big games like this, in big moments, I’ve always got to keep my composure,” Andes said. “Can’t show any emotion. I’ve got to remember to breathe and take it one pitch at a time. I don’t stress it.”
Said Ashby, “I told Jack I never flinched. I trust that guy. He’s been in every kind of battle. There’s no better person that I wanted on that mound.”
Andes, Hoover’s leadoff hitter, reached base in four of his five plate appearances with a hit, a hit-by-pitch and two walks. He scored the game’s first run when he stole third base and continued home on a Green throwing error.
J.R. Cook had two hits and a run scored, and fellow senior Jack Ziarko had an RBI single to tie the score after Hoover trailed 2-1 in the fifth.
On paper, this All-Federal League district final looked like a mismatch. Hoover, the league co-champ with Jackson, entered as the No. 3 seed with a 21-4 record. Green, at 10-13, was seeded 17th.
But Ashby knew better. The Vikings were seeing Green for the third time after regular-season wins of 3-0 on May 6 and 5-2 on May 14. And Green was seeing Hoover starting pitcher Evan Fuller for a third time.
“I’ve really had some sleepless nights about this,” Ashby said. “Our league is so good. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night.”
Green did not look like a sub-.500 team Thursday. Starter Sam Dubravetz pitched into the sixth inning and Dom Salomone, Kolton Evans and Nate Elliott had two hits apiece for the Bulldogs.
“I just told these guys to battle to the end, and that’s what they did,” Green coach Jon Wallace said. “It’s unfortunate the game ended the way it did. But our guys battled for eight innings. We gave a really good team all they wanted. For that, I’m pretty proud of them.”
Carter Pukansky took the loss after pitching 1⅔ innings of relief for Dubravetz.
Green totaled 10 hits and three walks. Hoover totaled seven hits and six walks and was hit with pitches three times.
But neither team could get that timely hit to take control. Twelves runners were stranded by each side.
“We’re fortunate that we’ve lived the tight games this year,” Ashby said. “We’ve come back on many occasions. And for many of these guys, it was their third district final here. In the end, we got some help with the error. But our guys were in it.”
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Hoover baseball walks it off on Green error in district championship
Reporting by Josh Weir, Canton Repository / The Repository
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