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CHILLICOTHE — Before Tuesday night’s game, Fairland coach Drew Clark told his team that he knew they didn’t particularly enjoy bunting.
But they were going to need to do it anyways.
Clark was onto something, too.
His Dragons (13-14) used small ball to pester Zane Trace’s defense in both the third and seventh innings, scoring three runs in each frame. The latter allowed them to take a late lead in a come-from-behind 6-4 victory in a Division III district semifinal.
The old baseball adage still holds true; when you simply put the ball in play, good things tend to happen.
“We’ve known all year that we’re capable of doing that,” Clark said. “We’ve used [the bunt] on and off. I’d personally like to see the kids hit. But at the end of the day, when you get to this point, it’s about winning the ballgame in any way you can.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The Pioneers (22-7) struck first, plating two runs in the second inning.
Josh Young started things off with a single before Brooks Hodson worked a walk. Ezra Rippeth later singled to score Young before Rece Allen reached on error, allowing Hodson to score.
In the top of the third, Fairland threw a counter-punch.
Ben Southard and Keegan Smith each singled before Brycen Hunt laid down a sacrifice bunt to move them ahead. Blaze Perry followed with a third consecutive bunt, beat out the throw and knocked in Southard in the process.
With ZT’s lead at 2-1, Alex Morgan stepped to the dish and logged a sacrifice fly to score Smith and clean the slate. Ethan Wall then followed with a triple, putting Fairland ahead 3-2.
“[Wall] is a great kid,” Clark said. “He’s a leader of this team, even as a junior. I don’t want to look past this year, but I look forward to next year with him as a senior and what that season might hold for him.”
The Pioneers scored to even the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth and then took a 4-3 lead in the sixth, thanks to an RBI single from Gavyn Allen.
But with the end of their season starting back at them, the Dragons went back to the well in the top of the seventh … and the same part of the lineup did its job.
Southard walked with one out and moved to second on a single from Smith. Hunt then laid down a sacrifice bunt, followed by a sacrifice from Perry. When Perry bunted, the Pioneers attempted to tag a sliding Southard at the dish but to no avail, making the tally 4-4.
Wall then came to the plate and roped a two-run single just over ZT’s infield, putting Fairland back in the lead at 6-4.
In the bottom half of the seventh, Wall came to the mound in relief of Hunt — who had tossed the first six frames. The junior left two runners stranded, slamming the door shut and sending his Dragons to a district final.
“We’ve been underestimated all year,” Clark said. “I’ve always known we are good. But we’ve struggled to put it all together at times. Tonight, we were struggling with hitting the ball a little bit and we started to lay a few bunts down. It seemed to work and we stuck with it.”
Statistically, Wall finished 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs and picked up the save. Perry followed, going 1-for-3 with a run and a pair of RBIs.
Hunt earned the pitching win. In six innings of work, he surrendered two earned runs on eight hits and struck out seven.
“He threw great today,” Clark said of Hunt. “The last couple of outings, he’s had the tendency to, I wouldn’t want to say wild, but he’s thrown a few more pitches than what I’d like to see. Tonight, I felt like he was a little more composed. He pounded the zone for the most part. I think that made a lot of the difference.”
Young led Zane Trace’s offensive efforts, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and a run. Rippeth and Gavyn Allen chipped in, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, respectively.
While the Pioneers’ season comes to an end, the Dragons advance to a Division III district final at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at VA Memorial Stadium. Fairland will face Huntington, who defeated Ironton to advance.
“We’ve got to see the baseball and we can’t make errors in the field,” Clark said. “All year long, we’ve halfway beaten ourselves. Nine times out of ten, if you look on the scoreboard and we’re behind, we’ve got four or five errors. We’ve struggled with that. But these kids have all the ability in the world and I think we’re playing better as we’re moving forward.”
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