Firebirds explode in first 2 innings against Middies
Saturday, May 17, 2008
WEST CHESTER TWP. — Lakota West began the defense of its Division I state baseball championship with a 19-2 win over Middletown in the sectional semifinals Friday, May 16.
The home team last played a game nine days ago, a game they were trailing to the Middies heading into their final at-bat.
Extras
But the Firebirds (22-1) battled back to win then and wasted no time getting their offense on track in this game by scoring three times in the first inning, including a lead-off home run by Jimmy Brenneman, his fifth of the season.
"We've been struggling at the plate the last few games, so our approach was just to be more aggressive today," Brenneman said. "I think it (the home run) set the tone for us because we just kept going from there."
The Firebirds continued their offensive explosion in the second inning with 12 runs, sending 17 batters to the plate. Nick Murtland was the top hitter of the inning with a single, a triple and three RBIs. Two other players — Craig Gauden and Justin Vaske — had two hits each in the inning.
"Sometimes you just have to tip your hat," said Middletown coach Jason Cave, whose squad ended its season at 4-21. "We had some good pitches and put some balls in spots where they worked when we played them before, but they made the adjustments and their bats came alive."
Even down 15-0, Middletown never quit and put two runs on the board in the fourth inning. Kyle Schwarber and Michael Roberts had back-to-back singles with two outs in the inning. Both runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and Jimmy Hackett
laced a single to right field scoring both runners.
"That's a class team over there," Lakota West coach Bill Dreisbach said of the Middies. "They have an awesome nucleus of young players that will be a force to reckon with the next couple of years.
"Any team is capable of upending you," he continued. "You have to throw strikes and be aggressive at the plate, and we did those things today."
Lakota West's Matt Foor and Jacob May also belted their first home runs of the season, both two-run shots in the fourth inning.
The Firebirds will play Talawanda at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the Division I sectional finals at Princeton.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.
