LANCASTER ― For the second consecutive game, Newark baseball faced a pitcher with Division I level collegiate talent on June 4 at Beavers Field.
And Olentangy Orange’s Reid Hemrick, who throws in the 90s and came in with a 6-0 record and 0.70 ERA, was touched up for four runs on eight hits by the Wildcats in his five innings of work.
Problem was, the hard-hitting Pioneers more than had his back.
With Newark (21-8) trying to make its first state tournament in 35 years, it chopped a 6-1 deficit to 6-4 and nearly tied it. But Orange (24-5), a 2023 state runnerup which had lost the last two years in the Sweet 16, erupted for six runs in its final two at bats, pulling away to a 12-4 Division I regional championship victory.
“We had some guys who hit the ball well against a really good arm,” said coach Michael Wheeler, who played on the Wildcats’ last regional finalist in 2006. “And we hit a ball hard right at the left fielder which probably would have tied it. But we hit their batters seven times, which was really the difference. We gave them some free bases that we didn’t get, and they had some timely hits.”
Like it did in the June 2 regional semifinal upset of Olentangy Liberty, Newark struck first in the first inning. Brody Driskel walked leading off, one of three he drew on the day, and eventually scored on Luke Miller’s groundout. Losing pitcher Moses Crane singled and tried to score from second on Kodie Steele’s two-out hit to left, but was tagged out at home on a bang bang play.
The Pioneers loaded the bases with one out in the second, on an error and two hit batters. Then, Griffin Zavislak grounded to third baseman Trenton Wilson, who was interfered with by a baserunner and threw Zavislak out at first for what appeared to be an inning-ending double play. But the ball was ruled dead, and Jake Luling lashed a bases-clearing double to right center for a 3-1 lead.
Luling, who went 3 for 4 with five RBIs, later slammed a solo homer over the right field fence and another hit batter scored as Orange went up 6-1 in the fourth. However, the Wildcats didn’t quit.
Brody Randall had an infield hit in the fourth, later coming home on Braylon Beckett’s grounder, making it 6-2. In the fifth, Driskel walked and singles by Crane and Randall loaded the bases with one out. Miller smacked a two-run single to left, and Steele loaded the bases again with a bunt single. But Hemrick got a key strikeout, and the left fielder gloved Beckett’s shot to left that would have tied it.
The Pioneers finally put it away, getting back-to-back, two-run singles in the sixth, while two more hit batters came home in the seventh as five of them scored on the day.
Newark forced Hemrick to throw 98 pitches in five innings before being relieved. He struck out three, walked three and hit a batter.
Crane and Steele both went 3 for 4 in a losing cause. Crane also had three hits in the semifinal win off Louisville-bound pitcher Parker Van Engelenhoven, raised his average to .575 and his 53 hits for the season are believed to be a Newark record.
But he and Newark’s large group of seniors would have gladly traded all of that for a trip to the state, which would have been the Wildcats’ first since 1991.
“We beat Dublin Coffman (in the district finals) when no one believed we would, then beat Liberty (in the regional semifinals) when no one believed we would,” said Crane, who was relieved in the fourth inning by Wilson, then Cale Saunders. “We were playing with house money. The fans played a big part in us being here, with all of their support.”
Wheeler said that while the loss hurt, the players should focus on the history that was made.
“I’m very proud of our guys. They accomplished something that hadn’t been done in 20 years,” he said. “They can’t hang their heads. We had goals to win our league, get 20 wins and win the district. We got 21 wins, won the district and fell short by just a game in the league. It’s sad to lose our seniors, with the way they played on the field, the way they played together and the way that they practiced.”
Added Crane: “We put in the work late after practice, early in the morning, and it paid off. I was hard on the guys sometimes, said what had to be said, but they realized I was pushing them to be the best they can. We wanted to go out there and leave it all on the field, with no regrets, and that’s what we did.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Potent Pioneers end historic Newark run in Elite 8 with strong finish
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate | USA TODAY Network
