Flying past the Flyers

COLDWATER, Ohio — The Indians were a little over-excited in the third inning, a surge of them coming out of the dugout a bit early as Reece Wendel was coming toward the plate to score their third run.

They drew a warning from the home plate umpire.

It was difficult enough to contain the excitement in the three-run third inning. The Tribe dugout really had to fight to keep emotions in check in the fifth.

By the end, there was no holding them back.

Fort Recovery blew open the Division IV high school baseball district championship game with seven fifth-inning runs, all of which came with two outs, as it defeated the Marion Local Flyers 11-3 for its first title since 2016.

“It was insane,” said senior center fielder Troy Homan, thinking back to his days as a bat boy for the 2015 and ’16 Fort Recovery squads that advanced to state final four. “My whole life this has been a dream of mine, just to play in this district at Coldwater because the atmosphere is amazing. And to be able to come out and not just play in it, but win it, perform the way our team did … it was really a dream come true.”

The Indians (13-12), who lost 6-5 to Marion Local during the regular season, advanced to play Buckeye Border Conference champion Montpelier (13-8) in the regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday at Elida. Montpelier beat Hilltop 12-5 in its district championship game Friday.

After entering the tournament at 9-11, Fort Recovery is now two victories away from a trip to state.

“I’m really proud of them,” said FRHS coach Kevin Eyink. “They've been working hard. They're doing everything we ask. That hard work’s paying off and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The sixth-seeded Tribe was up 4-1 but No. 4 seed Marion Local’s offense had started to show signs of life in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

Fort Recovery snuffed out any hope. 

With two outs and Reece Wendel on base in the top of the fifth, Alex Gaerke crushed a double to right-center field. He was the first of eight consecutive batters who would reach base.

Caden Grisez drove in Gaerke with a single to left, Gavin Faller drew a walk, Reece Evers singled to center and Riggs Tobe reached base on an infield single to load the bases for No. 9 hitter Alex Dues. The senior, who typically makes his impact from the mound, clobbered a stand-up triple to left-center field to clear the bases.

Fort Recovery pitcher Caden Grisez throws an offspeed pitch during the Indians’ 11-3 victory over Marion Local in the district final on Friday. Grisez struck out seven batters and earned the win to lead Fort Recovery to its first district title since 2016, when it all the way to the state tournament. The Indians will face Montpelier in the regional semifinal at Elida on May 30. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

“I just feel like I’ve been hitting the ball a lot better these past couple days,” said Dues, noting that the pattern continued during warm ups. He finished with a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs. “Today it just felt great off the bat.”

Dues scored on a wild pitch to make the score 11-1 before Troy Homan gave the Tribe back-to-back triples. Finally after Wendel was hit by a pitch, the Flyers went to their bullpen and were able to escape the inning.

“That fifth inning, everything was going right,” said Eyink, whose team racked up six of its 13 hits in the frame. (The Indians blew open their district semifinal win two days earlier with a 10-run sixth inning against Parkway.) “That is a fun, fun inning. That’s a fun feeling to be able to just watch them hit the ball and watch the bases — doubles and triples — everything was going right.”

The Flyers, who knocked off ninth-ranked Minster in the district semifinal, managed to avoid having the game end by the mercy rule, scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth inning to drop their deficit back into single digits. But they couldn’t do much more and Fort Recovery ended the game with a 4-3 double play on a line drive off the bat of Ian Rindler.

Grisez finished with three hits, including a triple, two RBIs and a run, Caden Homan notched two hits, two RBIs and a run, and Gaerke had a double, two RBIs and one run.

On the mound, Grisez faced just one over the minimum through the first three innings. A couple of strikeouts in the fourth helped him avoid damage after he gave up a leadoff triple to Rindler and then hit Hayden Poeppelman with a pitch. He got the win as he went 5 1/3 innings and struck out seven while giving up three runs on three hits and two walks.

“I felt good,” said Grisez. “I felt like I had good command. …

“I liked my curve — a couple got away from me — but my curve … felt good today.”

Eyink turned to Rex Leverette in relief and the senior responded by throwing 1 2/3 shutout innings while giving up one hit and striking out Griffin Bruns to lead off the bottom of the seventh.

Starter Bryant Meier took the loss as he gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. The Indians had their big fifth inning against Rindler, who gave up seven runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 frames.