LANCASTER – The longest playoff run in East Knox baseball history came to a halt on Friday, June 4.
The Bulldogs ran into a very strong Berlin Hiland team and were bounced, 8-0, in a Division IV regional semifinal at Beavers Field.
The loss puts an end to the Bulldogs' season that saw them go deeper into the postseason baseball tournament than they ever have before.
Hiland lefty starting pitcher Casey Lowe kept the Bulldogs batters off balance for the entire game, allowing only three hits and two walks while fanning six. Lowe, who went the distance, threw only 85 pitches to seal the Bulldogs’ fate.
In the meantime, Hiland batters got to East Knox starting pitcher Bryar Householder, touching him up for a pair of first-inning runs on an RBI double by Isaiah Miller (2-for-3, two RBIs) and a sacrifice fly by Nolan Yoder.
Householder gave up eight hits and a walk in three innings. In the third inning, Hiland's Isaak Yoder (2-for-3, two RBIs) spurred a 4-run rally, smacking a two-run homer that broke the game open.
While Housholder completed the inning, East Knox coach Randy Baugher pulled him in favor of senior lefty Sam Printz. The coach wasn't too surprised at the way that Hiland (27-5) handled the young Bulldogs.
"Not at all," Baugher said. "Like I told our boys, that's a baseball factory they have there. It really is. We all love baseball, but they take it to a different level. We knew that we really had to play tight defense and we had three errors. There were a couple balls that maybe we should have caught, but that's baseball and that's what teams do."
Printz tossed the final three innings, giving up no hits and no runs while striking out a pair.
Weston Melick, Landon Spearman and Shane Knepp each singled off of Lowe.
"There's always probably things that we could do differently, but we went with our best guys and took our best shot," Baugher said.
The Bulldogs entered the game having won 14 of their last 18 contests.
"It was pretty amazing, especially the way we started out this year," Baugher said. "We were 1-7 at one point."
With Melick and Printz as their only two seniors, the Bulldogs made a big turnaround.
"We played a bunch of Division II schools in the beginning of the season," Printz said. "Big schools. We were honestly getting smoked, but when we started playing teams that were in our division and in our league, we really showed we were a good baseball team. After we were 1-7, we turned it around to be 11-10 at one point. We finished with a positive record (15-13). If you turned around that much, I'd say you're doing something all right."
Now the time has come for both seniors to move on.
"It's been a fun four years, especially with Sam by my side for all four of them," Melick said. "I'd just like to thank God for keeping us safe the whole time. The Bulldog fans are always out here supporting us. You always get love from them."
This Bulldogs' team that has come so far will return most of their roster as they look forward to next season.
"They have steadily progressed," Baugher said. "As a coach, that's what you want to see most of all. It's to see them progress, get better and more confident. You want to see them make plays that maybe they would not have made in March, and our guys have done that. They've done a tremendous job of growing as baseball players."
Hiland went on to lose in the regional final to Lucasville Valley 5-2, on June 5.
