July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Tribe KOs Tigers (05/12/08)
FRHS baseball
Tribe KOs Tigers (05/12/08)
By By RAY COONEY-
MINSTER, Ohio - It took the Tribe offense some time to really get going. But when a pitcher is as hot as Greg Kahlig was Saturday, a team has the luxury to wait for the bats to come alive.
Kahlig sat down 14 batters in a row at one point and struck out 15 as he tossed a two-hit shutout. He led the Fort Recovery High School baseball team to an 8-0 victory over the Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers in the semifinal round of the Division IV sectional tournament.
"He's a good arm," said Waynesfield-Goshen coach J.R. Biederman. "We haven't really seen an arm like that in a while. ... Most of the times the non-league opponents don't throw their good arms at us, so we don't get to see their best. It's tough
"I'm glad we hung in as long as we did. You just run into a buzz saw when you face a kid like that."
Jimmy Alspaugh picked up a two-out single off of Kahlig in the first inning, but after that the sophomore was in complete control. He struck out Nick Shane to end the first inning, and added strikeouts of Stewart Spencer and Casper Johannsen to start the second.
He went on to sit down 14 straight batters, striking out three in a row again spanning the fourth and fifth innings. The Tigers didn't get another base runner until the sixth inning, when Randy Jarvis knocked a one-out single to center field.
Kahlig responded by striking out Blake Knowlton and Jacob Sandesky to end the frame. He walked Alspaugh to start the seventh inning before recording his final two strikeouts and a ground ball to second baseman Nate Keller to end the game.
"He's the one guy who the team plays well behind," said Fort Recovery coach Shane McKibben, whose team is now 8-9 and will play New Bremen for the sectional title Wednesday at 5 p.m.
"He's done it before in the past. He's been here before. Last year they had a tournament run. We have a lot of confidence in him."
Kahlig, who helped lead the Indians to the district title game last season, finished with 15 strikeouts. He struck out Knowlton, the No. 1 hitter, Nick Shaner, the clean-up man, and Spencer, the No. 5 hitter, in each of their three at bats.
While it took the Tribe offense some time to put the game away, senior shortstop Curt Heitkamp was in tournament form from the start. He doubled in his first at bat, then singled, stole two bases and scored the second Indian run in the third inning. He added another double in the fifth inning and scored, and walked and scored a run in the sixth.
Heitkamp finished 3-for-3 with three runs, two stolen bases and both of the Tribe's extra-base hits.
"It's time," said McKibben. "He's been kind of battling it all year at the plate. It was good to see him stay balanced and get some good pitches to hit. He picked a great time to start swinging the bat."
Frank Thien also had three hits and drove in a run in each of his final three at bats. Kahlig had a pair of hits, and Clint Tobe scored twice.
The Indians went up 4-0 on Thien's RBI single to score Heitkamp in the fourth inning, and finally put the game away in the bottom of the sixth.
Bobby Rammel led off with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on an error. Heitkamp followed with a walk, and Thien notched an RBI single to left field.
Cody Fiely's sacrifice bunt set up Tobe and Kahlig, who tagged back-to-back RBI singles to complete a four-run inning.
In addition to the 10 hits, Fort Recovery put the pressure on the Tigers with nine stolen bases. Heitkamp, Thien, Tobe and Travis Hart each finished with two steals.
"We definitely try to do something like that, because offensively this year we have to make things happen and take chances," said McKibben. "We thought we could run today ... and we did that.
"We'll look to do that every time, especially when we get the lead."
Nick Shaner took the loss for Waynesfield-Goshen as all eight runs against him were earned. He gave up four walks to go along with the 10 Tribe hits and struck out five.
"The positive I can take out of it is it wasn't a run-rule game," said Biederman, whose team is now 4-17. "We didn't come in here and just roll over. A lot of times when we come over and play schools of this caliber, it's a challenge for us. It's nice to see they battled through."[[In-content Ad]]
Kahlig sat down 14 batters in a row at one point and struck out 15 as he tossed a two-hit shutout. He led the Fort Recovery High School baseball team to an 8-0 victory over the Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers in the semifinal round of the Division IV sectional tournament.
"He's a good arm," said Waynesfield-Goshen coach J.R. Biederman. "We haven't really seen an arm like that in a while. ... Most of the times the non-league opponents don't throw their good arms at us, so we don't get to see their best. It's tough
"I'm glad we hung in as long as we did. You just run into a buzz saw when you face a kid like that."
Jimmy Alspaugh picked up a two-out single off of Kahlig in the first inning, but after that the sophomore was in complete control. He struck out Nick Shane to end the first inning, and added strikeouts of Stewart Spencer and Casper Johannsen to start the second.
He went on to sit down 14 straight batters, striking out three in a row again spanning the fourth and fifth innings. The Tigers didn't get another base runner until the sixth inning, when Randy Jarvis knocked a one-out single to center field.
Kahlig responded by striking out Blake Knowlton and Jacob Sandesky to end the frame. He walked Alspaugh to start the seventh inning before recording his final two strikeouts and a ground ball to second baseman Nate Keller to end the game.
"He's the one guy who the team plays well behind," said Fort Recovery coach Shane McKibben, whose team is now 8-9 and will play New Bremen for the sectional title Wednesday at 5 p.m.
"He's done it before in the past. He's been here before. Last year they had a tournament run. We have a lot of confidence in him."
Kahlig, who helped lead the Indians to the district title game last season, finished with 15 strikeouts. He struck out Knowlton, the No. 1 hitter, Nick Shaner, the clean-up man, and Spencer, the No. 5 hitter, in each of their three at bats.
While it took the Tribe offense some time to put the game away, senior shortstop Curt Heitkamp was in tournament form from the start. He doubled in his first at bat, then singled, stole two bases and scored the second Indian run in the third inning. He added another double in the fifth inning and scored, and walked and scored a run in the sixth.
Heitkamp finished 3-for-3 with three runs, two stolen bases and both of the Tribe's extra-base hits.
"It's time," said McKibben. "He's been kind of battling it all year at the plate. It was good to see him stay balanced and get some good pitches to hit. He picked a great time to start swinging the bat."
Frank Thien also had three hits and drove in a run in each of his final three at bats. Kahlig had a pair of hits, and Clint Tobe scored twice.
The Indians went up 4-0 on Thien's RBI single to score Heitkamp in the fourth inning, and finally put the game away in the bottom of the sixth.
Bobby Rammel led off with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on an error. Heitkamp followed with a walk, and Thien notched an RBI single to left field.
Cody Fiely's sacrifice bunt set up Tobe and Kahlig, who tagged back-to-back RBI singles to complete a four-run inning.
In addition to the 10 hits, Fort Recovery put the pressure on the Tigers with nine stolen bases. Heitkamp, Thien, Tobe and Travis Hart each finished with two steals.
"We definitely try to do something like that, because offensively this year we have to make things happen and take chances," said McKibben. "We thought we could run today ... and we did that.
"We'll look to do that every time, especially when we get the lead."
Nick Shaner took the loss for Waynesfield-Goshen as all eight runs against him were earned. He gave up four walks to go along with the 10 Tribe hits and struck out five.
"The positive I can take out of it is it wasn't a run-rule game," said Biederman, whose team is now 4-17. "We didn't come in here and just roll over. A lot of times when we come over and play schools of this caliber, it's a challenge for us. It's nice to see they battled through."[[In-content Ad]]
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