OXFORD — The Badin and Butler high school baseball teams won their respective regional semifinal contests on Tuesday to advance to the regional finals of the Division III baseball tournament at McKie Field at Hayden Park on June 3.
The Rams and the Aviators will face each other at McKie Field on June 5
Badin 12, Monroe 2
Seven runs in the second inning gave Badin a decisive 12-2 victory over the Monroe High School Hornets. The Rams not only advanced to the regional finals, but head coach Brion Treadway earned his 300th win with Badin.
Treadway emphasized that the Rams’ success derives from the team’s devotion to the fundamentals, something that it practices every day.
“Our main focus every day is making the routine play,” Treadway said. “We take flat balls, we take ground balls, we make throws every day. We mix up our variation of batting practice, but we spend a lot of time working on the fundamentals, and we think those are the things that are going to help us win.”
The Hornets’ only run came in the top of the second inning when sophomore first baseman Keegan O’Hara grounded out to second base, allowing senior third baseman RJ Schwab to score. Sophomore infielder Jayden Hounchell took third, but a strikeout preceded the Rams’ dominant inning.
The Rams (24-6) began their attack with a two-run play thanks to a Kyle Anderson hit. Center fielder Chandler Taylor and shortstop Cooper Ollis crossed home plate.
Badin continued to occupy the field and brought in multiple runners. Jeremiah Carmella and Anderson finished their trips to give the Rams a 4-1 lead, which first baseman Kade Bowling widened with another two-run play that allowed third baseman Austin Vangen and second baseman Cade Cummins to cross home.
One final ground ball brought Bowling home. Junior outfielder Joe Tarin stopped Badin’s assault, but Monroe head coach Ed Beck acknowledged that although his players competed the entire day, the early 7-1 deficit proved difficult for the Hornets to bounce back from.
“Our guys competed, worked their butts off the entire time,” Beck said. “We hit the ball all over and really felt good about it, but that seven-run inning kind of took some air out of the sails. We still competed, we just weren’t as aggressive as we wanted to be there.”
Following a scoreless inning for Monroe (19-11), an error at first base allowed J Carmella to take first while Chandler Taylor advanced to third. Taylor dove for home on the next play for the Rams’ eighth run.
Despite one run from junior outfielder Dawson Watts in the top of the fourth, the Hornets gave up another two runs to give Badin a 10-2 advantage going into the fifth inning.
Neither team impacted the scoreboard, but after the Rams replaced Bowling with pinch runner Alexander Arnold, the latter scored off a line drive from Taylor. One more run from Taylor ended the game in the sixth inning with a Badin win 12-2.
The Rams have limited time to celebrate. With the regional finals quickly approaching, Treadway knows that he only has two days to get his players prepared for the next round.
“I told the guys, ‘Go celebrate today and tonight and enjoy this,’” Treadway said. “But when we show up for practice tomorrow, we’re locking back in and having the best practice of our season.”
Butler 5, Ross 2
Despite holding the Butler High School Aviators to zero runs for five-straight innings, the Ross High School Rams fell 5-2 after the final score was determined in the third inning.
Four runs in the second inning from Butler saw the Rams trailing 5-0. They closed the gap by two runs in the third and maintained excellent defense for the rest of the game to keep the Aviators from impacting the scoreboard. However, the Rams (18-10) couldn’t capitalize on several chances to swing the advantage back in their favor.
Ross head coach Brad Voegele highlighted the team’s resilience as a positive throughout the season, especially in tough games.
“It’s the blue collar community that we live in,” Voegele said. “It’s great kids that just compete … We knew we had something in us, as long as we were fighting and clawing. I was really proud of how they competed and got out of that hole and gave us a shot against a good team.”
Butler senior Hunter Richardson wasted no time getting to first base off the second pitch of the day. Sophomore Jackson Schilling brought him home with a line drive, giving the Aviators an early 1-0 lead after one inning.
Hunter replicated his earlier success on his next at-bat with a deep hit to left field to bring his brother, sophomore Tate Richardson, home in the second inning. The Aviators doubled their score on the next play when junior Aidan White gave them a 4-0 lead off a Koby Dues hit.
Dues gave the Aviators their fourth run of the inning. They had an opportunity to inflate their score even more with bases loaded, but Ross senior Ben Voegele caught a fly ball to end the five-run inning before the Aviators could inflict further damage.
Even without scoring in the bottom of the second inning, the Rams prevented Butler from scoring off loaded bases at the top of the third. They continued this momentum with two runs in the bottom of the third off a deep shot to left field from Voegele, closing the gap 5-2.
Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth innings. After holding the Aviators to zero runs, the Rams nearly mounted a comeback with bases loaded and two outs on the board. However, senior Mason Reckner snatched a ground ball and brought it to first base to send the game into the seventh and final inning with the Aviators still up 5-2.
Senior Brady McFarland caught a deep ball for Butler’s third out to keep the score constant going into the bottom of the seventh. However, efficient pitching from Hunter saw the Rams strike out three-straight times, giving the Aviators their 5-2 win.
With the season over, Voegele said he was impressed with his players’ composure during tough situations in the playoffs.
“The way they played loose throughout the whole playoffs was unbelievable,” Voegele said. “I was nervous, I was anxious, I had butterflies. They didn’t.”
The Aviators move on to face the Badin Rams in the regional finals on June 5.
Lakota West 1, Olentangy Liberty 0
Anthony Wayne 3, Edgewood 2
Ironton 11, Cincinnati Christian 5
