Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — COVID took away a year of baseball for Valley’s senior class. But in the three years it’s had to work within the program, the group has made the absolute most of opportunities earned.
CREDIT: Patrick Phillips/Glory Days Photography
This spring has quite possibly been the toughest they’ve had. However, the Indians are still headed to yet another Sweet 16 appearance.
Portsmouth put up a great battle on Thursday, and tested Valley. But the Indians’ experience and clutch at-bats proved too much to overcome as Valley took home a third consecutive district championship with a 6-3 victory.
“Having only three full years of high school baseball and being a three-peat district champion in those years is a great feeling and a testament to the quality baseball players and program we have at Valley,” senior George Arnett said. “Having moved up to Division III from Division IV, there were a lot of questions about our ability to perform in a bigger division. So I am extremely proud of my teammates and I for putting the noise aside and just playing the game we love to the best of our abilities.”
While the seniors have experience, it was freshman Carson Powell that ended up being one of the heroes on Thursday.
After Carter Nickel was chased off the hill early in the fifth inning, Powell’s number was called and he delivered as he earned the win in 2 2/3 innings of work, allowing just two hits and striking out four batters.
“He came in and threw one heck of a game to really help us out,” Valley’s Chris Queen said. “His velocity, off-speed pitches and everything were on point.”
It took a couple of innings for both teams to settle in, but Portsmouth eventually struck first in the bottom of the third when Valley committed a throwing error to score a runner, putting the Trojans ahead 1-0.
However, the Indians found an opening in the fifth. With runners on second and third, Queen stepped up and roped a two-run single into center field to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Powell then stepped up during the next at-bat and added to the lead with an RBI double, scoring Queen and extending the lead to 3-1.
“I knew that I needed to get that hit to fire the team up,” Queen said. “That’s what it did and we just kept it rolling from that point on and gave Carson some run support.”
Portsmouth wasn’t going away quietly, though. Trevin Brooks made sure of it.
With a runner on second, he laced an RBI single to left field and later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3.
Valley, however, didn’t flinch. The Indians responded when Colt Buckle smoked an RBI single in the sixth before later scoring on a Portsmouth error to push the lead to 5-3.
Buckle drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh before Powell and the Indians’ defense shut things down in the seventh to bring another district title to Lucasville.
“Winning a district is never easy, and Portsmouth ensured this year would be no exception. Having gone down early 1-0, we knew we had to fight to at least get one and tie the game back up,” Arnett said. “Before we knew it, the score was tied at 3-3. Once we established that we could score, we were optimistic, and the mindset was one pitch at a time.”
Queen finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Buckle was 1-for-1 with two RBIs. In addition to his pitching, Powell also went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
For Portsmouth, Brooks went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Valley advances to a Division III regional semifinal at 11 a.m. on Thursday at V.A. Memorial Stadium. The Indians will face the winner of Wheelersburg and Ironton.
“At this stage in the season and tournament, there is one goal: to win and advance. Knowing we will play either Wheelersburg or Ironton, we will prepare accordingly to give us the best chance for another Elite 8 appearance,” Arnett said. “We will continue to practice and scout to get better, and most importantly, when we play, we will play for each other, doing whatever we can to win.”
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