South Central edges Buckeye Central in district semifinal

GALION (Crawford County Now) — The old saying that familiarity breeds contempt takes on a slightly different meaning in baseball.

Familiarity breeds competition.

Buckeye Central and South Central know each other well, having often played on the diamond.

That familiarity manifested itself in their Division VII district semifinal at Heise Park Thursday.

South Central scored two runs in each of the first two innings, then held on for a 4-3 win over the Bucks.

The Trojans will return Saturday at 2 p.m. to take on Mohawk for the district championship. The Warriors defeated Plymouth, 11-1, in the first game to advance.

“We knew we were going to be in this kind of game. We know South Central really well,” Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen said. “We played them last year in the sectional final. We played them this year in the regular season. We’ve played them in sectional finals multiple times over the years. There’s no secrets.”

The game didn’t start like Jensen was anticipating, however. The Bucks took an early lead when Cayden Jarvis singled on the first pitch of the game, stole second and scored on a single by Jeremiah Fishpaw.

South Central (16-10) responded with two in the bottom of the first. The Trojans bunched four singles and a walk off Buckeye Central (12-15) starter Jarvis.

The second inning was similar for South Central. The Trojans had three singles, and the Bucks helped with an error to produce two more runs and a 4-1 lead.

“They got the one run. We responded back — got two in the first, two in the second,” South Central coach Nick Kirk said. “We kind of died off. Their pitcher settled in, pitched very great after that.”

Jarvis did indeed settle in. Over the last four innings, the right-hander allowed no hits, four walks, and one runner reached base on an error.

Meanwhile, the Bucks got back in it. Blaise Metzger singled to lead off the fifth. Jarvis reached on an error and Fishpaw sacrificed and was also safe, scoring Metzger. Lance Cole followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-3.

“We just battled,” Jensen said. “We were down 4-1, We scored two and we’re right back in it. Cayden Jarvis — once he got past the first two innings, he was lights out.”

It was then South Central starter Troy Ayers’ turn to right the ship. After surviving the fifth with the lead, Ayers allowed only one base runner — a walk in the seventh — over the final two innings.

“He didn’t even pitch for us last year,” Kirk said of Ayers. “This year, he’s pitched about three games. He just makes people hit the ball, relies on defense. We have a pretty solid defense behind him.”

Ayers recorded just one strikeout but walked only two. He was able to scatter five hits in going the distance.

Bryan Chaffee led the Trojan offense with two hits and two runs scored. Ayers singled twice and drove in three runs. Weston June, Trevor Hudson and Jacob Wallen all singled.

Jarvis, Fishpaw, Cole, Metzger, and Jeremiah Roberson all singled for Buckeye Central. Jarvis ended with four strikeouts and five walks on the mound.

“I’m really proud of our kids,” Jensen said. “We got down a little bit, but we showed a lot of grit. Playing in the N10 prepared us for these tough games. Our kids didn’t quit.”

“It was a great team win. We didn’t falter,” Kirk said. “We slowed down but we didn’t let them gain too much momentum. We picked each other up and we just kept playing baseball.”

Jensen will say goodbye to his three seniors.

“Shout out to our seniors — Austin Estridge, Isaak Hickman, and Lincoln Milligan,” Jensen said. “These kids are a big part of our program. Austin’s been our catcher and one of our top pitchers for the last three years. He’s a blue-collar kind of kid.”

The cupboard is not bare according to Jensen.

“We’ve got a lot of kids coming back, a lot of baseball experience coming back and we’ve got some younger classes coming up too,” Jensen said. “So, we’re pretty excited. Hopefully, we can get back here next year.”

Box score

Buckeye Central   100 020 0       3       5       2

South Central        220 000 X       4       7       4

WP: Troy Ayers (1 SO, 2 W)

LP: Cayden Jarvis (4 SO, 5 W)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: None.

Multiple hits: (SC) Bryan Chaffee, Troy Ayers.

Records: Buckeye Central 12-15; South Central 16-10.

Next: Buckeye Central season over; South Central vs. Mohawk, Division VII district final, Saturday, at Galion.