HOLMES TOWNSHIP — When it comes to drama, Wynford takes center stage.
The Royals led, 4-1, after five innings, trailed by 2 after six-and-a-half, tied it, then won in eight innings.
Whew!
Such were the emotional swings felt by Wynford fans in attendance and the Royals themselves. In the end, No. 3 seed Wynford held of the spunky No. 5 seed Ashland Crestview, 7-6, to win the Division III sectional tournament here Friday.
Brett Crall’s one out single in the bottom of the eighth drove in Kaiden Blair — who had singled to start the inning — to improbably send Wynford to the district tournament.
The Royals will face No. 6 Margaretta next Thursday in the Shelby district semifinal.
“I don’t know what it is, but we’ve struggled in the seventh inning all year — and defensively — but we keep coming back,” Wynford coach Tim Smith said. “We fall behind, but we just keep coming back.”
The Royals actually appeared to be cruising through the middle innings. They took a 1-0 lead in the third when Blair singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Crestview (12-12) tied it in the fourth when Gavin Barker led off with a single, moved up on a sacrifice, and scored on Carson Keener’s two-out single.
Wynford (18-8) took a 4-1 lead in the fifth. The Royals sent eight batters to the plate, with the big blow coming on a two-run single by Brett Crall. It would not be Crall’s biggest moment of the game.
After Drew Johnson breezed through the sixth, Wynford looked to be in control. That idea exited stage left, however, in the top of the seventh.
The Cougars’ first five batters hit safely, including a two-run double by Dylan Bruner. Mix in a hit batter and the Royals’ only error of the day and Crestview put a five-spot on the board and grabbed a 6-4 lead.
“The guys came out, put some hits together, and had a big inning,” Crestview coach Don Keener said. “Give (Wynford) credit. They didn’t stop either.”
With their backs to the wall, three outs away from elimination, the Royals took step one to avoiding having the season end. Grant McGuire worked a walk and Johnson doubled.
With one out, Wes Prenger had a sacrifice fly to plate McGuire. After Landon Miller walked, Cougars starter Jarek Ringler had to leave the mound for being over the maximum pitch count.
“(Jarek) was at pitch count. He had 125 and we had to take him out,” Keener said. “We had (Barker) warmed up ready to go. We had an idea where he was pitch number wise.”
Reliever Barker walked the first batter he faced — Hunter Routson — to load the bases, and Collin Hulsmeyer drove in the tying run when he was hit by a pitch.
Spencer Miller started the game on the hill and pitched two innings of scoreless, two-hit ball, before giving way to Johnson to start the third.
“That was our plan. Spencer’s been struggling with his arm,” Smith said. “So, he’s not been able to throw as much. We wanted him to get through the lineup the first time and then we just changed the look with Drew.”
After stumbling through the seventh inning, Johnson righted the ship, putting Crestview down in order in the eighth. That set the stage for Crall’s heroics in the bottom of the inning.
“I think they started relaxing. They took a good approach at the plate,” Keener said of the seventh inning outburst. “And hitting’s contagious. You get a hit; you get another hit. The next guy in there sees it. Their confidence builds a little bit. It’s just a good thing they put together there in that inning.”
Wynford had nine hits and benefitted from nine bases on balls and a hit batter. Crall, Johnson, and Blair had two hits for the Royals, while Miller, McGuire, and Routson added safeties.
Johnson went six innings, striking out four and walking three. He surrendered nine hits, five coming in the seventh inning.
“Drew said he threw some middle middle fastballs that they hit that he shouldn’t have thrown over the middle of the plate,” Smith said. “Then I think the pressure got to the defense a little bit.”
Ringler went 6.2 innings, with four Ks and seven walks, being touched for seven hits. Barker had four hits for the Cougars and Tyson Ringler added three. Jarek Ringler, Landon Fulk, and Bruner each had a hit.
“It was a struggle. Both teams were good teams,” Keener said. “They don’t give up. We fought through — we didn’t give up down 4-1.”
“We felt pretty good if we could shut them down in the eighth, we felt good with 2-3-4 coming up,” Smith said. “(Drew) bounced back after a rough seventh inning.”
Keener loses five seniors to graduation — Bruner, Brennan Fulk, Boston Roland, Jarek Ringler, and Matthew Volz.
“These are very good seniors, and they will be greatly missed,” Keener said. “They can’t be replaced, that’s how good they are. We’ve enjoyed them for four years, I know that. I wish (Wynford) luck. I thought we played well enough to win it.”
“We had a bad inning,” Smith said. “We played really well other than that seventh inning.”
Box score
Crestview 000 100 50 6 11 1
Wynford 001 030 21 7 9 1
WP: Drew Johnson (4 SO, 3 W)
LP: Gavin Barker (0 SO, 2 W)
HR: None.
Triples: None.
Doubles: (AC) Dylan Bruner; (W) Drew Johnson.
Multiple hits: (AC) Gavin Barker 4, Tyson Ringler 3; (W) Kaiden Blair, Drew Johnson, Brett Crall.
Records: Ashland Crestview 12-12; Wynford 18-8.
Next: Ashland Crestview season over; Wynford vs. Margaretta at Shelby Division III district semifinal, Thursday.