But the Lakota East High School senior didn’t mind them at all. They were certainly worth it.
The Thunderhawks rode the right arm — and hand — of Hills and got timely hitting from their offense to put the finishing touches on their perfect run through the Division I baseball tournament, defeating No. 5 Perrysburg 6-2 in the state championship game on Saturday at Huntington Park in Columbus.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” East senior first baseman Mitch Geers said. “We had always talked about this day, but we never thought it would come. But this season, I felt it. We’re here and we did it. We’re state champs.”
The title marks the first state team championship for East in any sport, and the second baseball title in the Lakota District’s 52-year history. West won it all in 2007.
“It’s the most outstanding feeling I’ve ever had,” said senior Craig Thomson, who made two highlight-reel plays at second base. “I want to hold this moment for the rest of my life. Not many people get to say that they’ve won their last high school game.”
Senior Zak Kloenne — the No. 9 hitter — got East on the board first with a two-out, two-run single in the second. It was an at-bat that saw Kloenne go down 0-2, then fight back to 3-2 before lacing one to right field, scoring Geers and Thomson.
The Thunderhawks (24-7) added another run in the fourth on Brian Evans’ run-scoring single to left to make it 3-0.
“I love playing with the lead,” Hills said. “I can just worry about throwing strikes and make them hit it. It relieves so much pressure off of you.”
In the seventh, East added three more runs for insurance on RBIs from Jesse Rait, Geers and Blake Wilder, and turns out, it needed them to provide a cushion for Hills in the bottom half of the frame.
“At that point, we weren’t going to shut it off,” East coach Ray Hamilton said. “We wanted to get as many as we could get. I wasn’t comfortable at 6-0, but six was enough.”
The Yellowjackets (26-4) — who rallied in the bottom of the seventh in their semifinal win — scored two runs before Thomson’s diving play got Zach Kolvey at first to end it.
“That was a tough one,” Perrysburg coach Dave Hall said. “If we could have somehow not given up those three runs in the seventh, it would have been pretty interesting.”
Hills (9-3), a Cincinnati recruit, went the distance, tossing 118 pitches (72 strikes) while allowing 10 hits and striking out seven. Perrysburg starter, senior lefty Matt Kruzel (8-1), pitched 5 1/3 innings, yielding the Thunderhawks’ first three runs and five of their seven hits.
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.
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