LANCASTER — Missed opportunities in the form of stranded base runners hurt Seneca East as the Tigers fell 3-1 to Whiteoak in the Division IV regional semifinal game at Beavers Field Thursday night.
Head coach Rick Bowerman pointed to those in his post-game comments.
“That was key. Bases loaded early on, and we need a ground ball, fly ball, something and we just can’t get it done. Runners at second and third and a chance to score and we didn’t put the ball in play.”
The Tigers left 7 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the first inning.
The lone run came in the third after a Caden Fritz walk and Brandon Hines drilled a double to left field.
Seneca East (16-13-1) ends its season while Whiteoak (27-3) advances to Friday’s regional final against Berlin Hiland, 13-1 winners over South Webster in the first game.
“We don’t execute a suicide squeeze early on where the runner on third just misses a sign and forgets he has to run until he sees the bunt down,” Bowerman said. “You can’t do that in a regional game. You’re not going to win those games.”
Wildcats head coach Chris Veidt said his team was prepared mentally and overcame an overturned call early in the contest.
“I thought our kids did a great job, especially at this level, emotionally just working out of jams. We think we turn that bam-bam double play (in the first inning) and I’m not saying anybody missed a call.
“But we make an out call, and we think we’ve got a double play, then we have bases loaded with one out,” he said referring to the umpires reversing the call on a Brandon Hines line drive to second base that appeared to double up Fritz, who had walked.
“High school baseball teams, that was key today to come up with clutch hits, a clutch bunt or a clutch ground ball by Luken Roades. Plus, the clutch plays he made at third base,” Veidt said.
“We were mentally strong and played next-pitch baseball. We played in the present and didn’t play in the past.”
A solid pitching performance by senior Landon Barnett helped the Wildcats. He struck out 10 and walked a pair in picking up his 8th win of the season.
Barnett also worked out of tough spots several times.
“Their kid pitched a heck of a game. A great game,” Veidt said of Seneca East’s junior Fritz.
Fritz fanned 6 and walked 4 but struggled with control in the fourth and fifth innings. He yielded a run in each of those frames.
“He made pitches when he had to and he pitched out of some jams,” Veidt noted.
Whiteoak took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning without getting a base hit. Two walks and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt plated the go-ahead run.
In the fifth, Zander Roades opened with a single to right. He scored after Solomon Combs beat out a bunt and Seneca East turned a nice 4-6-3 double play that allowed Roades to cross the plate.
“I love the fight we had. Our defense was solid and Caden pitched another great game,” Bowerman said. “Caden was being Caden, doing what he’s done these last 3 or 4 weeks. Throwing the fastball, working his curve. He lost his focus for a little while, but he finished for us.” Bowerman strategized about trying to get back into the tight game.
“A chance to score and we just didn’t put the ball in play,” Bowerman said. “You can’t have two strikeouts in a situation like that with nobody out. I thought about a suicide squeeze, but we’re down two runs and we have to do it twice. You have to make sure you execute perfectly.”
“They’re the number 2 team in the state for a reason. Their pitcher did a nice job. We just needed to put the ball in play a little bit more. We watched too many fastballs go by.
“They had some balls sneak through. The second run the ball went off our catcher’s mitt. It hardly happened any this year.”
In the sixth Seneca East again put runners in scoring position thanks to a walk by Brandon Hines and a Cooper Skeel single to center. But two strikeouts and a popout to first base quelled the rally.
Whiteoak takes on powerful Berlin Hiland for a trip to the state tournament in Akron next week.
“You get to this level, everybody’s good. It’s not who you play, it’s how you play. Hopefully, we can get a clean game and a win.”
Bowerman talked about his 5 seniors — Skeel, Graham Gibbs, Brandon Hines, Cody Heibertshausen, and Nate Sauers.
“It’s always tough. The last game; lots of tears and lots of emotion. Those guys put lots of time in and we’ve got some big shoes to replace. We’ve got the talent to come back here next year,” he said.
“They were there every summer after Covid wiped out their freshman season. We’re going to miss them. They’re good baseball players and great kids. They’re fun to be around. They’ll definitely be missed.”
Among the returnees are juniors Jake Bowerman, Nathan Parks, Blake Foos, and Aiden Hines.
“Caden is expected to come in as the number one pitcher again. Jake catching; he has been our catcher all year. He missed one game when he broke his nose. He’s got a faceguard on, and he played tonight.
“Aiden at shortstop is one of the best athletes in our league. Nicholas Parks is a freshman, and he’s played third, second and right field. Playing Edison Tuesday night, he makes a perfect throw from right field on a fly ball and gets a kid running from second to third. He’s got a bright future and we have got a good group of freshmen who had a great jayvee season,” Bowerman said.
“We tell the kids focus on the little things and you get better and that’s what we did this year. We’ve got some nice talent coming up, so I’m excited.”
Box score Seneca East 001 000 0 1 4 1
Whiteoak 010 110 X 3 4 1
WP: Landon Barnett (10 SO, 2 W)
LP: Caden Fritz (6 SO, 4 W)
HR: None.
Triples: None.
Doubles: (SE) Brandon Hines; (W) Nate Price.
Multiple hits: None.
Records: Seneca East 16-13; Whiteoak 27-3.
Next: Seneca East season over; Whiteoak vs. Berlin Hiland, Friday.