“It feels good to win,” said HHS junior third baseman Eric Roberts, who was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. “We haven’t won a lot lately, so it’s nice to get a good win against a rival team.
“We’ve been trying our best to stay positive. We’re working hard every day, but things haven’t been going our way. We haven’t closed out the close games, but we came out and played well tonight. This definitely helps with the carryover into Fairfield and into the first game of the tournament.”
Hamilton (11-14) will finish the Greater Miami Conference campaign with a 5 p.m. road game against Fairfield on Sunday. Big Blue, seeded 17th, will then travel to No. 11 Anderson for a sectional opener Tuesday.
“We haven’t put our tail between our legs and shut it down,” HHS coach Joey Lewis said. “I think we’re staying as positive as we can be. We’re competing. We’re playing hard. We’re just having trouble consistently putting all the facets of the game together for seven innings, and that’s what’s been biting us in the rear end.
“Today, we were able to play pretty well. We want to continue to play well. That’s our goal heading to Fairfield. We want to enter that game piggybacking off of this and play a good game heading into the tournament.”
Big Blue took control of Saturday’s affair with a four-run fourth inning that pushed the margin to 7-2.
Jake Pennington and Reid Ruhl both had two hits for Hamilton, which has won four of the last five games in the series, and Pennington plated two runs. Zach Bell, Jackson Stewart and Jack Schlichter all added RBIs.
“It was my favorite type of game, doing well under the lights,” Roberts said. “We’ve got a ton of potential. We could really get something going in the tournament.”
Badin (13-12) got a two-run single from Zac Wilson to erase a 2-0 deficit in the first inning, and Mitchell Ahr (2-for-3) chipped in an RBI single in the fourth. In the other five innings, the Rams totaled just two hits.
Devon Valentino smacked a pair of doubles and pitched three innings in relief of losing pitcher Cameron Madden. Lucas Nartker threw a perfect seventh for the hosts.
“Hamilton High did a great job hitting the ball. They squared the ball up,” Badin coach Brion Treadway said. “I was real proud of our guys for how they bounced back, being down 2-0 and coming right back to even it up. After that is where I got a little frustrated as a coach. I felt like we could’ve attacked a little bit better on the mound. That’s something we need to get better at. And I expected to hit a little bit better.”
Valentino, a junior, said the Rams didn’t have the proper mind-set to win.
“We were in the game in the beginning. The other team scores a couple runs, and we just shut it down,” Valentino said. “Our guys aren’t paying attention in the dugout. Everybody is clowning around. We just weren’t in it tonight. It’s just a thing that’s happening this year, and we don’t really know why.”
The Kellums kept the Rams in check with their left arms. Ryan went the first five innings and Gunner finished, and they racked up seven strikeouts.
Badin’s three pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts. They also gave up 11 hits.
The Rams will host Ross on Sunday at 7 p.m., the first meeting of the Butler County Rams since 2011. Tenth-seeded Badin will be at home against No. 17 Dunbar in a Division II sectional opener Tuesday.
“We’ll figure this out by tournament time,” Valentino said. “For me, playing Ross is kind of a big deal because you’ve been hearing all this stuff. I’m just focused on winning and playing the game and doing my thing.”
Badin has won the Greater Catholic League Coed Central Division championship after its streak of 24 consecutive league titles was snapped last season.
“This is the first year we were in a position where we didn’t win the league the year previously, so for the guys to get the league back, I think it’s a good sign,” said Treadway, whose team was the D-II state runner-up in 2016. “I couldn’t think of a better way to end the year than playing Hamilton and Ross. Right now, we’re focused on Ross and getting ready for Tuesday. Hopefully the guys get up for it and are ready for the fight, and then we can roll that energy right into the tournament.”
Hamilton 201-400-0—7-11-1
Badin 200-100-0—3-5-1
WP — Ryan Kellum (3-4); LP — Cameron Madden (3-2). Records: H 11-14, B 13-12
About the Author