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St. Henry catcher Drew Langenkamp waits for the ball as Berlin Hiland's Mike Miller (13) slides home during Thursday's Division VI state semifinal at 7 17 Credit Union Park in Akron. The three-time defending state champion Hawks took the lead with a six-run fourth inning en route to winning 7-2.
AKRON - Facing a juggernaut in the postseason is nothing new to St. Henry, and after three innings and a 2-0 lead, it looked as if the Redskins would pull one more stunner over three-time defending champions Berlin Hiland in Thursday's Division VI state baseball semifinal at 7 17 Credit Union Park in Akron.
But the Hawks came in with the high reputation for a reason. A six-run fourth inning put them ahead for good, and the Redskins fell 7-2 to end the season at 26-4.
"We put an entire season together, and that's really hard to do," said St. Henry coach Mike Gast, whose team more than doubled its win total from an 11-13 mark last year. "You might get a team that puts a week together, but we were really good for the entire spring, historically good for St. Henry baseball, which is saying something."
Hiland plays for the four-peat today at 10 a.m. against Lake Center Christian. The Tigers downed Galion Northmor 5-3 in the opening game of Thursday's slate.
St. Henry's Max Delzeith pitches during Thursday's state semifinal against Berlin Hiland.
Max Delzeith got the ball for St. Henry, and used two quick innings to keep a stout Hiland offense off the scoreboard. That gave enough time for the Redskins to get their timing right against Hawks ace Mike Miller in the third.
Tate Boeckman lined the first pitch of the inning into right field for a single, while Drew Langenkamp's bunt pushed Boeckman into scoring position. With two away, Jake Schwieterman put a drive into Miller's 2-0 pitch and sent it to the left-center field gap. Boeckman scored easily, while the line moved to Carter LaGuire.
St. Henry's Tate Boeckman steps on home plate as Berlin Hiland catcher Griffin Monigold watches for the ball.
LaGuire produced a swinging bunt that should have ended the frame, but Miller's throw to first was high to Grady Monigold as LaGuire strolled into first.
Two pitches later, Miller's delivery to Austin Zimmerman found nothing but dirt and the backstop. Harrison Schwieterman, running for brother Jake, sprinted home to make it 2-0 'Skins. Miller got a strikeout to end the inning, but it was all St. Henry as the game rolled to the fourth.
That was when Hiland's aggressive lineup took its chance. A leadoff triple from Gerut Monigold was drilled over the head of centerfielder Jack Huelsman, and a sac-fly from Grady Monigold quickly made it a 2-1 game. A single from the final Monigold, Griffin, kept the pressure on Delzeith with the middle of the order coming up.
Jonah Yoder tied the game after an 11-pitch at bat when his double bounced out of the glove of left fielder Hudson Schmitz. The Hawks kept the rally going when Andre Yoder lined a ball over Schmitz's head to drive in the third run.
Miller then helped his own cause on a triple that bounced off the wall in right field and brought in the fourth run, which sent Gast out for a change with Miller on third.
Schmitz came in from left and looked to limit the damage. While Gerut Monigold's single with the bases loaded drove in two more Hawks, Schmitz did work out of the tough inning as the score sat at 6-2.
St. Henry's Austin Zimmerman (27) throws to first after forcing out Berlin Hiland's Logan Yoder.
"There's a couple of plays that the outfielders might want back, it's a deep ballpark and a long way to run," said Gast of the big inning.
The righty arm kept it at 6-2 until the sixth, when a bobbled grounder to shortstop brought in Christian Mullet for the game's final run.
St. Henry did show fight in the seventh with singles from Langenkamp and Owen Zimmerman, but Miller picked up his 15th strikeout to end it without much worry. Zimmerman led the Redskins' offense with three hits, while the remaining four were scattered throughout the lineup.
Miller got the win after a dominant complete game effort. The lefty scattered seven hits and had just two walks in the winning effort.
Delzeith took the loss, and worked 3 ⅓ innings with four earned runs but a pair of strikeouts. Schmitz threw 2 ⅓ innings and gave up three runs with two strikeouts, while Owen Zimmerman picked up the final out.
"I'm proud of (Delzeith's) effort. I know he doesn't feel very good right now but he went against one of the best teams in the state. He did what we asked him to do and (Hiland) just had a few more hits than us today," said Gast of his pitcher.
St. Henry's Austin Kunks prepares for field the ball at 7 17 Credit Union Park in Akron.
