Regional ran high, low with emotions

Editor’s note: In more than six years, sports editor Chris Schanz has seen his fair share of athletic contests. Some stick out more than others. In this “Greatest Games” series, he will reminisce about some of the games he’ll never forget witnessing.

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Some of the best games feature a wide array of emotions.

In baseball, the difference between a trip to the state tournament and a season-ending defeat can be just one run.

So just imagine for a second the feeling of scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Then what it is like when that seemingly comfortable advantage disappear in the next half inning. Back that up with the excitement of plating another three runs in the second, only to trail by one three outs later.

That’s barely half of what the Fort Recovery High School baseball team experienced in the Division IV regional championship May 29, 2015, at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Mitchel Stammen scored in the top of the first inning on an error, and Will Homan came home on a sacrifice fly by Derek Backs. Jacob Homan then doubled on a line drive to put the Indians out front, 3-0.

Excitement for the Tribe and the purple-clad faithful in the stands.

But it was short lived as Cincinnati Country Day — also nicknamed the Indians — evened the score with three runs in the top of the second.

Not wishing to feel the emotional valley for long, Fort Recovery scored three runs again in the second inning. Ben Will singled, and Chase Bruns moved him over on a sacrifice bunt. A walk put two on, and Cole Wendel scored Will from second. Then with two outs, Backs drew a walk ahead of a two-run Jacob Homan single.

And just like that Fort Recovery had another three-run lead.

More excitement from the Fort fans.

A half inning later, two singles, an RBI sacrifice fly, two more singles and a bases-clearing triple gave Cincinnati Country Day its first lead of the game, 7-6. It was almost 8-6, but CCD’s Domenick Doane, who hit the three-run triple, was thrown out at home trying to extend his hit into an inside-the-park home run.

There goes the fun.

Fort Recovery had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the third but left runners at the corners. Country Day put two on in the fourth but wasn’t able to capitalize.

In the home half of the fourth, Fort Recovery gave its fans something to cheer, plating the game-tying run as Jackson Hobbs scored on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Nate Lochtefeld.

Following a tense fifth inning for both teams, CCD led once again on a two-run single to make it 9-7, leaving Fort Recovery with two innings to either tie the game or take the lead.

They only needed one.

Jacob Homan doubled to begin the frame, and Kyle Schroer and Lochtefeld followed with singles, the latter of which scored Homan.

Then, Will put down a bunt to first base to score Schroer and tie the game, sending the Tribe fans into a frenzy in the stands.

But they had three more instances in which to celebrate.

Stammen, who reached on a fielder’s choice, and Will executed a double steal to put FRHS on top 10-9, then Stammen scored on a two-out single from Hobbs. After sliding into home to give Fort Recovery an 11-9 lead that later stood as the final score, Stammen walked clapped his hands in jubilation and trotted back to the dugout where he was greeted with high-fives, fist bumps and pats on the back.

With Hobbs on the mound, Country Day had a runner reach on a one-out error, and consecutive groundouts secured the Indians’ first trip to the state finals in six decades.

“It’s an honor,” FRHS coach Jerry Kaup said. “I’m thrilled for the boys … There was so much that we did as a team. I can’t put it into words. I know Jackson was fabulous, I know Mitch was fabulous, but I could go right down the line. I can name every single player.

“We all get to be hero at different times.”

And it was the fact that all 12 Fort Recovery players who entered the game made the most of the chances they were given.

Freshman Cade Wendel threw three strong innings of relief in his biggest outing of the year. Will batted just .302 that season for eighth on the team, but came up with a crucial bunt when the Tribe seemed on the brink of elimination.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Will said following the game of his thoughts leading up to that plate appearance. “If I get (the bunt) down, I get it down. I was just hoping for the best.”

Then Stammen’s school record 29th steal of the season drew a throw from the CCD pitcher, which allowed Will to score that go-ahead run.

“If you would have told me we would win 11 to 9 in this kind of ball game … So many ups and downs, I should say,” said Hobbs, who got the win in relief to tie the school record for wins in a season with 11. “Today, the feeling is unreal.”

The game, too, was unreal. A three-run lead gone twice. A well-placed bunt to tie the game, then a double-steal for the go-ahead run.

Fort Recovery’s first of back-to-back regional championships will go down as one of my greatest baseball games from start to finish.