Baseball squad trounces Lions on Tuesday
Hillsboro baseball team overcomes slow start to maul Bluestem, 10-4
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
It wasn't too hard to tell which team had more time off in Tuesday's semifinal round of the Marion baseball regional.
Fresh off foiling the hosting Warriors' hopes of returning to the state tournament in Tuesday's early game, the Bluestem Lions hardly looked fatigued from a 3-1 win.
Trojan coach Phil Oelke had a feeling deep down that his team was going to show signs of rust, unsure of what to expect from Bluestem.
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Looking every bit like a team that hadn't seen the field in a week, the Trojans had their hands full with the Lions early.
But the Trojans were able to shake off a slow start, inching within a game of making a return to Manhattan's Class 3A state tournament after a two-year hiatus.
All it took was James Bina bashing a solo home run to break open a 4-3 game in the bottom of the fifth as Hillsboro rolled to a 10-4 pounding.
Hillsboro faced Yates Center, a 4-3 winner over Osage City, for a ticket to Manhattan in Wednesday's final game of the Marion regional. Results were unavailable at press time.
Oelke's fear became apparent in the top of the third when Jeff Jones broke up a scoreless game, driving a Jerod Metcalf pitch deep to center field for an RBI double to put the Lions in front, 1-0.
The Lions continued to beat up on Metcalf, taking a 3-0 lead off five hits after two and a half innings.
"Actually, I anticipated that a little bit," said Oelke of the Trojans' slow start. "It's been a week since we've been on a baseball field so we came out just a little flat.
"But we responded well, I thought. Jerod struggled a little with keeping his pitches down, but these kids hit the ball a lot better than they did in the Marion game. They didn't show any faze of being worn out to me."
The game started to come unraveled on the Lions and starting pitcher Mike Marlnee in the bottom of the third as he spotted the Trojans their first three runs off free passes.
A walk to Kris Jones knocked out Marlnee to give way to Jeff Jones in relief.
Jeff Jones walked the freshly cleared Ben Walker for the go-ahead run, and Hillsboro never looked back.
Both teams were retired in order in the fourth inning before Bina cleared the 365-foot center field fence by a good 10 feet to trigger Hillsboro's fifth rally.
On base after a triple, Graham Ratzlaff scored on a Kris Jones single to double the Lions over, 6-3.
Bluestem gave up two more unearned runs with a walk and a fielders' choice to increase its deficit to 8-3.
Shawn Hughbanks capped off the rally with a run-scoring single to stretch the Trojans' lead to 9-3.
Down to their final four outs, the Lions mounted a small comeback in the top of the sixth with an RBI bloop single to pull to 9-4.
Ratzlaff added another insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to mark the ending of Hillsboro's nine-hit outing.
Steve Chisholm slammed the door on the Lions in the top of the seventh, cementing the victory for Metcalf.
Oelke believes much of his team's success will ride on the shoulders of his four- through six-hole hitters' production and solving the mystery of Andy Brubacher's thigh injury.
Reassuring Oelke by going a combined five for nine, the respective fourth, fifth and sixth hitters of Bina, Ratzlaff, and Metcalf hit .555 for the game.
"Our middle half of the lineup is just stroking the ball, four hole through six," said Oelke. "If our middle half picks up and hits over .500 like they're doing, we're going to be in good shape.
"If we can get Brubacher's thigh figured out, I think he'll be a lot more effective, too."
