Lakota West ousts Talawanda 10-3
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
SHARONVILLE — One day after Mother Nature sprayed the Princeton baseball field with rain, Lakota West sprayed it with hits.
Four of the first five Firebird batters collected hits Tuesday as West wasted no time adding to the four-run lead it had built Monday before rain halted play after 3½ innings.
Extras
Those four quick hits produced three runs, and the Firebirds cruised from there to beat Talawanda 10-3 in a Division I sectional championship game.
The win advances West (23-1) to the district finals, where it will face Sidney (17-11) at 5:15 p.m. Saturday at the Midland Complex.
"I don't think Talawanda quit by any means, but us getting those three quick runs really gave us some momentum to finish the game," Firebirds coach Bill Dreisbach said.
West finished with 12 hits, meaning the defending state champs have scored 51 runs on 60 hits in their last five games, including 29 runs on 31 hits in their first two tournament contests.
"We're just going out and doing what we do and taking care of business," said junior left fielder and No. 2 hitter Ricky Finley, who went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored against Talawanda.
"This is the tournament, so we're playing for our baseball lives as coach D likes to say," added junior shortstop Bryan Beaver, West, who was 2-for-2 with an RBI, three stolen bases and three runs scored.
Combined with leadoff hitter Jimmy Brenneman, West's top three hitters were a combined 6-for-9 with four RBIs and seven runs scored.
"They can really hit," THS coach Pete Maus said. "I thought both days that (Todd) Weiser and (Randall) McIntosh made good pitches, but they just put some good swings on those good pitches."
The Braves finished their season 18-10 following a 5-6 start.
"I'm as proud as a person can be of a group of young men," Maus said. "Over the last few years we've lost some really good baseball players, and these seniors have stepped up and done what seniors are supposed to do — they've led the way."
Nathan Smith picked up the win for West to improve to 8-0. Weiser took the loss and fell to 6-3.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.
