He was drained and rightfully so. That’s what Mother Nature and comebacks and dreams and history will do to a young coach. And Friday was all of that.
How’s this for memorable? After rainy weather delayed the start of the game by three hours and 14 minutes, the Rams fell behind Johnstown Northridge 6-1 in the first three innings. Then they put up four runs in the top of the seventh to knot the contest at 6-6. And then they scored three times in the eighth to secure a 9-6 triumph and a Division III regional championship.
It ended at 11:17 p.m. when T.J. Nichting recorded his ninth strikeout, completing a masterful six innings of relief work that included just one single.
Badin (23-7) is headed to the state tournament for the 11th time. The Rams will face Bloom-Carroll in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Thursday at Huntington Park in Columbus. Wheelersburg and Youngstown Ursuline will meet in the first semifinal at 10 a.m.
BHS hasn’t won a title since 1996, when a kid named Brion Treadway was the winning pitcher in both state games at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.
“At this time of the year, state is where you need to be,” Treadway said. “When you don’t get there, even when you make it to a regional final like we did last year, you just feel like the season was a failure. Being a part of the Final Four is that emotional, that addicting, that special.”
Nichting is the lone holdover from the Rams’ last state team in 2010, and the senior is looking forward to his final shot at a state crown. A win like Friday’s win might indicate that Badin is a team of destiny.
“It could be,” Nichting said. “We’ll see. I’ll tell you in a week.”
He took the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the third inning. It was 4-1 at that point, and Cameron Mohr (two innings) and Eric McGill (three batters) had shown very little effectiveness on the hill.
Nichting whiffed the first two batters he faced, then gave up an RBI infield single. A passed ball made it 6-1.
It stayed that way until the sixth, when Badin tallied an unearned run. But the Rams left the bases loaded, and the end seemed near.
“These kids are amazing. No one gave up in the dugout,” Treadway said. “I know it’s easy to say when you come back and win, but being in that dugout where everybody’s picking each other up, it’s just a good feeling to be a part of.”
The seventh inning began in earnest with a one-out infield single by Nichting. Zack Gray followed with a single. Alex Holderbach walked.
Northridge coach Jeff Wilson called for Brad Wilson, his third of five pitchers in the game, to face Reid Maus. That’s when Grady’s Field turned Badin green.
Maus blooped a 2-1 pitch into right field to make it 6-3, and a wild throw home allowed Gray to score.
Matt Kreke then slapped a ball up the middle that was fielded by the shortstop and thrown to first base. Kreke was safe for an RBI infield hit, and when the ball wasn’t grabbed cleanly, Maus sprinted for home and was safe on a bang-bang play at the plate. It was 6-6.
“I’m real happy for Reid to have this moment,” Treadway said of Maus, a junior third baseman who’s missed most of the season with a foot injury and just returned to action Tuesday. “He’s been real positive, a great team guy. He just had a really good week of practice, and we were struggling at third. He just seemed to come back at the right time.”
Nichting struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh. He’s used to pitching the seventh inning as a closer, but not like this.
“A lot of adrenaline,” Nichting said. “I pitched six innings? Yeah, that probably tripled my longest outing. I just kept telling them to give me a one-run lead and we’re golden.”
Badin’s three runs in the eighth were unearned. Noah Henson drew a one-out walk, Nichting reached base on an error, and after Gray flew out, Holderbach delivered a two-run single up the middle to give the Rams the lead for good.
“I hadn’t had a hit all day, so I was due,” said Holderbach, a sophomore second baseman. “I found my pitch and just took it back up the middle. I don’t even know what I was feeling. It was crazy. We’re the comeback kids. We’ve been down so many times this year.”
Kreke’s run-scoring double expanded the lead to 9-6. Nichting walked a batter in the bottom of the frame, but he lived up to his word. He was golden.
“I kept asking him if he was good,” Treadway said. “He said, ‘Don’t even think about taking me out. I’m fine, I’m finishing this game, and we’re going to win.’ I think the kids just fed off his approach and mental toughness.”
It was the first regional appearance for the Vikings (20-9). They beat Summit Country Day 1-0 on Thursday, but committed five errors in the last three innings against Badin.
“It’s very unfortunate,” Jeff Wilson said. “These guys have been in situations like this year all year long, but maybe not in a situation of this magnitude. As young as this team is, they probably got a little nervous, and I’m not surprised by that. I think (the Rams) were just a little more experienced than we were.”
Badin’s eighth inning started with a controversial play. Leadoff hitter Nick Browning was hit by a pitch and stole second base before getting nailed trying to swipe third.
Browning voiced his displeasure and was ejected. Treadway voiced his displeasure and found no satisfaction.
First of all, why would Treadway risk sending a runner to third base with nobody out in the eighth? Well, he didn’t. Browning went on his own.
“I know what he’s thinking there,” Treadway said. “He just got a little too aggressive.”
That said, Treadway felt that Browning was safe and didn’t deserve the ejection or the two-game suspension that comes with it.
The Badin coach didn’t condone what Browning said. Treadway said it was simply a display of frustration, while the umpire felt that Browning’s words were directed at him.
“I think it was an emotional call on both guys’ part, the umpire and Nick Browning,” Treadway said. “For that umpire to take away the opportunity of a senior leader to play in the state Final Four just really disturbs me. Quite honestly, I don’t know how that guy goes to sleep at night with the way he acted.”
Browning probably isn’t done, though. Badin has two available games it can schedule before the state semifinal, and Treadway said he’ll try to do just that.
“That’s not what we wanted to do, but Nick means that much to our team that I’d do anything I can to take away the unfortunate power trip of an umpire,” Treadway said.
Maus had two hits for the Rams, and Corey Reimer added an RBI double. Ross Wilson drove in two runs for Northridge.
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