Baseball squad stymied in Manhattan
Trinity holds HHS to three hits
in 7-2 victory
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Prior to the Class 3A state tournament, Trojan coach Phil Oelke believed that if his team could get past first round opponent Wichita-Trinity, a state title would be well within range.
But with the Knights' Stephen Hartman firing a three-hitter while striking out 10 Trojans, that proved to be too big an if.
The Trojans went four innings before Andy Brubacher finally singled, and by that time, Hillsboro was in a 3-0 jam not to mention having just one baserunner.
That was a jam the Trojans could never get out of despite mounting a small rally down to their final out.
In just their second appearance in four years' existence at the state tournament at Manhattan's Norvall Field, the Trojans made their quickest exit, bowing to the Knights, 7-2.
In preparing for the Knights, Oelke sought out the advice of adversary Wichita Collegiate coach Mike Gehrer.
If anybody knew about the Knights it was Gehrer, whose Spartans got blanked by Hartman and the Knights in the semifinal of the Trinity regional.
Oelke's biggest question was whether Hartman had more than the Spartans' ace a year ago, Bill Griffith.
Unexpectedly, Hartman ended up giving the Trojans little opportunity to get anything going, keeping them looking intimidated at the plate.
If the Trojans' heaviest hitters James Bina, Dustin Jost and Graham Ratzlaff go hitless, the opposition's pitching is overpowering.
Hillsboro went out with its guns smoking with Jerod Metcalf taking the mound for the final time in a stellar prep career.
Metcalf gave up a single to start the game, one of many hits that seemed to find its way through a gap between second and first.
The Knights pulled in front 1-0, after Josh Kinnevan ripped a two-out single as part of the three-hit second inning.
Kinnevan led off the fifth with a triple, sparking what proved to be the fatal stretch in the game for the Trojans.
Brian Guhl and Kevin Deustch each drove in RBI singles, and the Trojans' deficit had grown to 3-0, marking the end for Metcalf.
With barely a flicker of life still left heading into the sixth, reliever Steve Chisholm's loading the bases with one out seemed to suck it out of the Trojans.
A respirator wouldn't have revived Hillsboro after Scott Pufahl jacked the game's biggest hit, a bases-clearing single.
Any opportunities the Trojans had to manufacture runs in the fifth and sixth innings ended with a pair of runners left stranded at second.
Chisholm held the Knights hitless the top of the seventh, but down to their last three outs, the Trojans' comeback was next to impossible.
With one out left in the season, Kris Jones had his biggest hit of the postseason, an RBI stand-up double.
Chisholm put the final touches on the Trojans' scoring, singling in Jones.
The rally fell short with Jost ending an exceptional career on a pop-out to deep center field.
Perhaps their best shot at a state baseball title for many years to come, the Trojans' season ended with a 17-7 record overall.s
Hit hard by graduation, the Trojans are likely to field a young team in 2004 with Jared Fish the lone returning starter.
Despite seeing limited varsity action, Tyler Goldsby and Chad Hughbanks should also play key roles next year.
"We knew what we were going to see," Oelke said of Hartman's pitching. "Getting adjusted to it was totally different since we don't have any left handers.
"We never looked comfortable at the plate and we never got to the point where we saw the ball real well.
"It was obviously a disappointing loss, but it would have been worse if we had beaten ourselves. We didn't play our best game, but we didn't make a lot of mistakes. We played pretty good defensively, and Metcalf did what he could."
