“Oh man, it was relief,” West Side coach Ken Coomer said of watching his team romp 14-0 in four innings, then clinch the title with a 7-2 triumph. “We all know it was a crazy week, on a personal level and the team level. We can go back and reminisce a little bit now that everything’s all said and done.
“I’m proud of the team and proud of the parents, and we’ve had great support throughout the community. Losing a game here was a wakeup call. We still feel we’re one of the best teams in the region. We still think we have a good shot of going to the Little League World Series.”
The Great Lakes Regional in Indianapolis is the next stop for Hamilton, which faces New Albany (Ind.) at 5 p.m. next Sunday at the Reuben F. Glick Little League Center.
“We’re excited, but we’re not where we want to be yet. We’re not done,” said Kurtis Reid, who had the crowds buzzing throughout the nine-day state tournament — he was 16-for-19 with 18 runs, 23 RBIs and eight home runs. “I have a feeling for this team. If we beat Indiana, we’ll be good. I’ll say we have a chance to go to the World Series.”
Reid threw a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in Sunday’s first game, which saw Hamilton roar to 13 runs in the second inning. Reid was 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs, while Jackson Lewis doubled, singled and drove in four runs.
In the nightcap, Carson Haynes pitched 5.2 innings to earn the win. He was one out away from a shutout when Marcus Rhodes smacked a two-run homer and knocked him off the mound with 86 pitches. Lewis came on, retired one batter and completed the five-hitter.
“I was feeling good. I wasn’t really nervous at all,” Haynes said. “I was just battling through it. We didn’t like losing the first game against (North Canton), so we came in ready to play today. Now we need to go to Indy and play our hardest.”
Haynes took the loss in Thursday’s 2-1 setback, but he’s generally considered to be Hamilton’s No. 3 pitcher behind Reid and Ryan Kirkendall, who were both unavailable for the last game.
“With what Carson has done for us in the past, he deserved the opportunity and definitely proved himself,” Coomer said. “We were thinking five to seven runs would win it. Carson threw strikes and kept them a little bit off balance.”
Devin Fath’s three-run homer ended the scoreless deadlock in the third inning, and Bobby Young added a three-run blast in the fifth. Fath collected two hits, while Haynes drove in a run. Reid was walked three times, twice intentionally.
North Canton’s Brady Zimmerman gave up four runs and absorbed the defeat with 2.2 innings of work.
“I really thought that we would have the pitching advantage with Zimmerman,” North Canton coach Todd Evans said. “Haynes pitched a lot better than I thought he would. I tip my hat to him.”
Evans knew his team had a huge challenge in the first game. Reid was clearly pumped up and bringing consistent heat.
“They made us mad when they beat us the first time,” Reid said. “I was ready for this moment. I knew they weren’t going to keep me for the second game. I was ready to pitch, and I’d say I did pretty good.”
Daryan Bowling launched a two-run homer for West Side in the opener. Fath also plated two runs, Gage Dermon had a pair of hits, and Young chipped in an RBI.
“All we had to do was hit,” Reid said. “Our defense is good. So if we hit, we’ll be good.”
Lewis, who was 3-for-4 in the doubleheader, said Hamilton learned a lesson from losing in the winners’ bracket final.
“We got too cocky, so we really had to focus on these games,” Lewis said. “It didn’t matter how much we beat them by in the first game, we still had to play the next one. We were confident and did what we needed to do.”
This West Side unit has now won state titles as 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds. The Hamilton program has captured 15 state championships in the last 28 years at the 12-year-old level.
North Canton is still seeking its first 12-year-old state crown.
“All I can say is I’m proud of my team,” Evans said. “We put ourselves in a very good position to win the state championship, and that’s been our goal. We’re not trying to come in second or third. So it hurts.
“Hamilton’s a good team. You’ve got to play solid baseball to beat them. Usually Little League baseball comes down to power pitching, which they displayed in the first game. In the second game, they hit two three-run homers.”
Evans said he didn’t believe his team was down after the first-game thumping.
“If you told us at the beginning of the tournament that we were going to be sitting here playing winners take all, we would’ve taken that,” he said. “What’s the difference between them beating us 14-0 or 2-1? The way I look at it, we still have to win the last game. It really came down to the fact that they hit the ball better than we did in the second game. Haynes is a pretty crafty pitcher, but I thought we could score more runs off him. We just didn’t get the job done offensively.”
Evans was asked how he felt about Hamilton’s chances in the regional.
“They’ve got the hitting, they’re very fundamentally sound defensively, and they’ve got two really good pitchers,” he said. “Pitching depth will be the key for them. I wish them the best because as of right now, they’re representing Ohio. I’ll be rooting for them to do well.”
First Final
North Canton 000-0—0-2-2
Hamilton West Side 1(13)0-x—14-11-1
WP — Kurtis Reid; LP — Owen Blackledge; HR — WS: Reid, Daryan Bowling.
Second Final
North Canton 000-002—2-5-0
Hamilton West Side 004-03x—7-7-1
WP — Carson Haynes; LP — Brady Zimmerman; HR — NC: Marcus Rhodes; WS: Devin Fath, Bobby Young.
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