Baseball team headed for state
Hillsboro baseball team blanks Yates Center in Marion regional final, 10-0
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Maybe the Trojans should play their regional baseball tournament at the Marion Sports Complex every year.
After all, both times Hillsboro has qualified for the Class 3A state tournament, it has been by winning the Marion Regional.
And this time, there was no Southeast of Saline, the team that has thwarted Hillsboro's advancing to state two out of the last three years, standing in its way.
Just the Yates Center Wildcats, who had played only 17 games due to rain outs.
A washout was exactly what the Trojans did to the Wildcats on May 21 in the final game of the Marion regional, shutting them out 10-0.
The win boosts the Trojans' record to 16-6 on the year, keeping the seniors' dreams of a state title alive.
Trojan coach Phil Oelke has seen his share of good performances during his four-year tenure.
But on Wednesday, he might have witnessed the most complete performance ever by one of his teams.
It all started with Jerod Metcalf firing a two-hitter amidst fanning six and eventually ending on Graham Ratzlaff's walk-off two-run double to nail the Wildcats' coffin shut.
Oelke said right after the Trojans shook off a slow start against Bluestem in the semifinals that the championship would be decided by who made the fewest mistakes.
But it wasn't the case as the Trojan defense, combined with Metcalf's pitching, kept the Wildcats from ever getting comfortable at the plate.
"That was probably the most complete game of baseball that Hillsboro has ever played since I've been the coach here," said Oelke. "I was real pleased, and our seniors have earned everything they've got."
Metcalf gave up his only two hits in the first inning, but the Wildcats got nothing out of it, leaving both runners stranded in scoring position.
Going to two for four on the day with a game-high three RBIs, Ratzlaff's stand-up double started what would be a short, miserable outing for Wildcat starter Allen Ibbetson, giving Hillsboro a 1-0 lead.
Keeping Yates Center off balance from the mound, Metcalf played a role in the Trojans' offensive surge, capping off their 2-0 first inning with a run-scoring single.
Hillsboro continued to torment Ibbetson in the second inning as he loaded the bases up with no outs for Shawn Hughbanks.
Finishing the day three for four and two RBIs, Hughbanks' two-run single marked the ending for Ibbetson after one and one-thirds an inning.
Ibbetson's reliever, left-hander Ty Heffern, escaped the inning unscathed with the Trojans leaving the bases loaded.
"We struggled a little bit once they brought the lefty in," Oelke said, "but as soon as we got him timed out and figured out what he was doing with his curveball, we obviously hit him, too."
The biggest struggle for the Trojans came in the bottom of the third when they went down in order.
James Bina tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 5-0 game with an RBI single.
While Heffern eluded disaster in Hillsboro's half of the second inning, he couldn't pull it off a second time.
With the bases loaded with Trojans in the bottom of the fifth and one out, Heffern beaned Steve Chisholm for the sixth run.
Enduring a postseason hitting slump, Dustin Jost broke out, jacking a two-out two-run single to leave the Wildcats two runs away from being done after five.
Then came Ratzlaff with the game-winning double to deep right field.
For the first time in three years, the Trojans missed Southeast of Saline during regionals. But the Trojans could meet them with the stakes being higher with SES also vying for a state title.
Hilllsboro faces the Wichita-Trinity Knights Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the first round of the state tournament at Manhattan's Norvall Field on the grounds of the Eisenhower Middle School.
The Knights advanced to the state tournament by winning their daunting regional, shutting out Collegiate and outlasting Medicine Lodge.
If the Trojans beat the Knights, they'll likely face the top-ranked Silver Lake Eagles at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday with the final game scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
