SHELBY – Having split the regular season series, Wednesday’s Division IV sectional championship between rivals Shelby and Clear Fork could go either way.
Both teams defended their home turf in the MOAC and the same was true for the tournament as the three-seed Whippets are heading to the district semifinal after an 8-3 win over the five-seed Colts.
“When you’re in our district, every game is going to be hard no matter who you play,” Shelby coach Jon Amicone said.
Sometimes it has been the Whippets making things hard on themselves this season, though, having committed 47 errors as a team entering the postseason. Against the Colts Wednesday night, they had none in a near-perfect defensive effort to complement Kaleb Stairs on the mound who struck out three and walked none.
“I thought he was efficient (and) he threw a lot of strikes,” Amicone said. “He didn’t have his good breaking ball today, but he found ways to mix in his other pitches and keep them as balanced as possible. And when your defense doesn’t have errors it allows you to work a little smoother … he can breathe in there, throw your fastball, and spot that up because you know your defense is going to have your back behind you.”
He struggled a bit in the first two innings as five of the nine hits allowed came early, as did two of the Colts’ three runs. But once he settled in, Stairs faced just four batters in the third and fourth inning, and sat down the side in the fifth and seventh.
“The first game I only pitched two innings against them, so they haven’t seen me in a full game and at full strength,” he said. “(I was) just trusting my pitches and continuing to attack batters. Don’t let things snowball, trust the guys behind me because I know they’ll produce runs and make plays for me.”
Four runs in the third inning made things a little easier on Stairs, too.
“It definitely takes some weight off my shoulders,” he said. “It’s really a blessing having these guys behind me.”
Trailing the Colts 2-1 entering the bottom and quickly getting two outs on just four pitches, Travis Slone and Nate Lykins drew back-to-back walks and forced Clear Fork coach Gabe Kennedy to pull Blayne Craddolph and send Bryar Ousley on the mound. He proceeded to plunk Brock Fisher to load the bases and then walked Casyn Koch to score Slone and tie the game. Conner Hartz was then drilled to score Lykins for the go-ahead run before Brady Bowman stepped up and belted one into centerfield scoring Koch and Fisher to completely shift all momentum in favor of the Whippets.
“It was huge,” Amicone said. “We left the bases loaded twice in the first three innings, we just couldn’t get that big two-out hit. Brady doing that kind of opened things up for us and allowed us to breathe a little bit and go back to playing the game instead of staring we talked with our team, that kind of opened things up for us, allowed us to breathe a little bit and go back to playing the game.”
Ousley then exited and in came Colts ace Mason Ball who immediately got them out of the inning with a groundout to first. But the damage was done and what was once a promising start for Clear Fork turned into disaster.
“Offensively I felt really good early on … we leave some guys on base in scoring position early, we kind of execute some things and have some base running mistakes, but we’re up 2-0,” Kennedy said. “The way we were seeing the ball off Stairs was good, we had good approaches and good at bats, but the mistakes happened on the other side. We didn’t have our best day pitching and in the tournament you gotta go next man up pretty quick, you’re not saving anybody for tomorrow.
“He’s a competitor,” Kennedy added about Ball. “He battled injuries early on with his arm and you could tell he’s still not 100%, but when Mason’s on, Mason’s really on. He kept us around a bit, but offensively things just kind of went the other way. And when they got the lead, they got more comfortable with it while we were struggling at the plate.”
Shelby drew 10 walks on the day, saw Hartz and Fisher hit by pitches twice, and had just four hits in the win.
“Our guys did a nice job of being selective and not trying to do too much,” Amicone said. “I think in tournament games sometimes kids get a little amped up and they try to do too much. But I thought our guys collectively did a really nice job of being productive at the plate and staying within the strike zone.”
Brady Bowman led the way with three RBIs, one hit, and three walks, Stairs had two RBIs, Slone and Koch two runs apiece. Gavin Dommka had three hits for the Colts, Sharp had two hits, Ball and Craddolph combined for six strikeouts.
The Whippets now shift their focus to an old rival — Bellevue — in the district semifinal after the Redmen walloped Vermilion 10-2. That game will be played Wednesday at Willard High School, first pitch at 4:30 p.m.
“Bellevue has a really good pitching staff and I know Andy Dennings has been a head coach for a really long time,” Amicone said. “They have a great program with two or three pitchers that can really keep them in a game. And obviously scoring 10 runs offensively, they’re seeing it well.
“All those SBC schools are tremendous, it’s great baseball up there so we really have our work cut out for us. Hopefully we have a good week of practice and can pick up a game or two to keep us sharp.”
And while Shelby is preparing for Bellevue, Clear Fork is preparing to bid adieu to a special group of seniors.
“When I came to Clear Fork they were freshmen and we saw them in the cage working … that was the thing that really stuck out to me,’ Kennedy said. “The dedication they have, a lot of these guys will come in before practice starts and hit … they’ll hit right after practice or after a game.
“As a coach you want to win games, but you also want kids that care and give effort.”
zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shelby baseball tops rival Clear Fork in sectional championship