John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
BAINBRIDGE — Defense and aggressive base running was Paint Valley’s recipe for victory on Tuesday.
The Bearcats (11-17) turned three double plays and took extra bases when possible to take down Scioto Valley Conference foe Adena 3-1 in a Division VI district quarterfinal.
Even when starting pitcher Jase Rinehart didn’t have his best stuff early, he trusted his defense behind him. And once the Bearcats grabbed a lead, the senior hurler locked in to ensure his team got another chance to don the black and gold.
After a strikeout opened the game, Adena’s Fisher Schaaf reached on error before Colton Garrison lined a curveball into centerfield to put the Warriors (5-20) in business early. On the next pitch though, Paint Valley’s Nick Boggs read it perfectly to make a catch and step on second for an inning-ending double play.
“Nick Boggs is a kid who goes hard every day,” Paint Valley coach Trent Mettler said. “He’s been our utility guy this year and has played second base with [Jase] on the mound. Him coming up with that double play was huge, catching that line drive and knowing exactly what to do with it.”
The Bearcats cashed in on that early momentum when Rinehart singled to right field to open up their half of the first. He’d advance to second on a wild pitch, and later to third, setting up Preston Fauber to bring him home on a hard-hit single up the middle to make it 1-0.
That lead would hold up through the next three innings, largely due to PV’s defense.
With one out in the second inning and a Warrior standing on first, Paint Valley’s Bryson Woods made an outstanding sliding catch before doubling up the runner to end the inning.
“I can’t say enough about Bryson Woods making that play in right field,” Mettler said. “That’s a freshman who came in, slid, caught that line drive and, without hesitation, fired that kid out at first. That’s a play that you just don’t see a lot of freshmen make.”
The Warriors, though, provided an answer in the fifth.
Bush singled with one out before stealing second on the very next pitch. With the tying run in scoring position, Corban Timson smoked the next pitch. It took a wicked hop over the shortstop and into center field to allow Bush to scamper home, making it 1-1.
Paint Valley immediately provided an answer, though.
With Ison and Fauber on base, Fauber allowed himself to get caught up in a rundown with Ison inching towards home. The Warriors took an eye off Ison for a split second, allowing the speedy sophomore to streak towards the plate and score for a 2-1 lead.
“Brennen can be a pretty aggressive baserunner at times and today it really paid off for us,” Mettler said. “He’s a quick kid with really good baseball instincts. That was a huge momentum swing for us because it helped Fauber move to third for an insurance run. Him being a high IQ baseball player really helped push us towards the win today.”
Three pitches later, on a 1-2 count, Owen Donahue gave the Bearcats a huge insurance run, lifting a ball into short center to score Fauber and make it a 3-1 ballgame.
“That’s a four-year senior making a winning baseball play.” Mettler said. “Teams that can do that continuously can score runs and win games. So, Owen coming up and knowing the situation, just getting a line drive to the outfield and allowing Preston to score was really huge for us. Giving us that second insurance run gave our guys even more confidence to close out the win.”
That confidence carried over to Rinehart on the mound as well.
He induced an infield popup before striking out the next two batters in the sixth, followed by a strikeout, lineout and a groundout to seal the envelope in the seventh.
“Our defense bought Jase some time to find his stuff and those last three innings, Jase just dealt,” Mettler said. “Jase was a bulldog on the mound today and really being a pitcher and just finding his stuff was huge.”
Rinehart went the distance for the Bearcats, scattering five hits, walking two and striking out seven on just 86 pitches. He also went 2-for-3 with a run scored while Fauber went 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI.
For Adena, Garrison allowed only one earned run in his six innings of work, striking out three.
While Adena’s season ends, Paint Valley advances to a Division VI district semifinal at 4 p.m. on Saturday against Eastern Meigs.
That game will happen at Ohio University’s Bob Wren Field.
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