Peter Marsh tossed a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts, Nick Birch went 2-for-2 with two runs and Cincinnati Christian blanked Carlisle 4-0 to capture a district championship at Miamisburg.
“We’ve really just been playing as a team — sacrificing when we need it, putting down bunts when we need it, playing small ball when we need it.,” said Marsh, a junior right-handed pitcher. “If we continue to play well, hit the ball well — we hit a lot of balls today that didn’t drop — but if we continue to play well, pitch well, play good defense, we’re going to keep going.”
The Cougars (18-12) have won five in a row and eight of their last nine, while making their second straight trip to the regional tournament. They’ll move on to face either Minford or Ironton in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Mason.
Cincinnati Christian has outscored tournament opponents 15-1.
“It was a good day,” Marsh said. “Arm felt OK warming up and then got it going by the game and was able to keep them off-balance, throw hard, get us a win basically.
“Fastball, obviously,” Marsh added of what pitches were working for him. “That was throwing well, and I was riding my curveball a lot and a little bit of slider.”
“He has been lights out,” Cincinnati Christian coach Jim Birch said of Marsh. “Threw last week against Madeira, complete game shutout, almost made it one batter away. I probably left him in one batter too long myself.”
But either way, the damage was done.
Nick Birch singled in the bottom of the fourth and eventually came around to score on a balk by Carlisle starter Elijah Dobbins. That gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead.
Kael Starks had a two-RBI base hit that extended Cincinnati Christian’s advantage to 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Starks then scored on a passed ball to make it 4-0.
Carlisle threatened with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t bring a run across the plate.
“It’s huge going into the next games,” Jim Birch said of closing out a close contest during the postseason. “We made it to the regionals last year, and it is tough. It’s a whole other level. So having a game like this going into it is really good because it prepares the players for the pressure that they’re going to face.”
The Indians (19-10) got hits from Brendon Rowe, Isaiah Brady and Caleb Fitzpatrick. Dobbins pitched five innings while giving up three earned runs and striking out six batters.
“Carlisle is a really good team,” Jim Birch said. “My hat’s off to them. They played a great game today.”
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