Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — There wasn’t much that Fairfield Union and Logan Elm could do on Tuesday that the other hadn’t seen yet.
The Falcons and Braves were meeting for a third time, only this time with their seasons on the line in a Division IV regional semifinal at Ohio University.
Enter Cameron Silcott.
Logan Elm got a full sample of what Fairfield Union’s hurler had, and his stuff was simply too much for the Braves to handle.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
Silcott tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits and striking out eight batters while leading the Falcons (23-6) to a 5-2 victory over their MSL rivals.
“What a game he had. He was in control and really started coasting after we gave him some run support,” Fairfield Union coach Scott Burke said. “He threw one heck of a game, and he allowed us to save two of our other guys for Thursday. If it wasn’t for the pitch count, he would have gone all seven innings, but he led us and it was a great team win.”
Logan Elm (15-11) had the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, attempting to seize early momentum. But the Falcons rolled up a groundout to end the threat.
While it took a couple of innings for FU’s offense to settle in, the Falcons broke through in the fourth.
Garrett Dilcher singled and that was followed by a pair of hit by pitches to load the bases.
A passed ball allowed Garrett Dilcher to score, and then Braxton Rowles singled to center field to score another run to put the Falcons ahead 2-0.
“Getting that run support definitely took a lot of pressure off my shoulders,” Silcott said. “I trusted my defense and knew they would keep making plays. A lot of credit goes to my catcher [Andrews]. He called the game and I trust everything he calls.”
With the tide on their side, FU added to the lead in the fifth.
With a runner on second and two outs, Alex Burke slapped an RBI single into left field to extend the lead to 3-0.
A two-out walk to Dilcher extended the inning, and that allowed Brady Andrews to keep it going with an RBI single into center field. Then, a passed ball plated Dilcher to make it 5-0.
“I don’t care what anyone says. We play in such a tough league and facing two conference opponents for a third time in the tournament is mentally taxing,” Burke said. “Logan Elm is such a good team, as was Circleville when we played them earlier. They know us, we know them. So it just comes down to who was going to play clean baseball. This wasn’t our best, but we made things happen when we needed to.”
Although Silcott worked through tough fifth and sixth innings, Logan Elm wasn’t going down without a fight.
Following a pair of Falcon errors to lead off the seventh, Kelton Bennington notched a sacrifice fly and Camden Ebert roped an RBI single to right field, trimming the deficit to 5-2.
Although the pitch count chased Silcott off the mound with two outs, the Falcons collected a flyout to end the night and advance to the Elite 8.
“Everything is just one game at a time, and executing the little things on both sides of the ball,” Andrews said. “It’s a great opportunity to be playing in a regional final. It’s something that hasn’t been done in a long time. It’s going to come down to us just trusting our process and remaining focused.”
Following Silcott’s numbers, Burke, Andrews and Rowles each had a base hit and an RBI.
For Logan Elm, Ebert finished 2-for-2 with an RBI. Bennington was 2-for-3 with an RBI and pitched three innings, allowing two runs and striking out three batters.
As Logan Elm’s season ends, Fairfield Union advances to a Division IV regional final at 6 p.m. on Thursday against Richmond Edison, who defeated Minerva to move on.
That game will be played at Ohio University.
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