Riley Baum pitched a complete game and got the win. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Wyatt Binckley raced home with the winning run on a seeing-eye double by Conner Tooney, allowing Heath to edge two-time defending state champion Apple Creek Waynedale in an exciting Division III state semifinal.
Akron, OH – The man of the hour, Conner Toomey, couldn’t rightly recall what pitch he hit Saturday to send Heath to the Division III state championship game.
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“I was just looking to make contact and put the ball in play, honestly,” said Toomey, after his RBI double down the right field line in the eighth inning gave the Bulldogs a thrilling 4-3 win over two-time defending champion Apple Creek Waynedale.
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Toomey, a right-handed hitter, reached out and hit an outside pitch by reliever Tate Venables that right fielder Hudson Barkman made a futile diving stab at a foot or two within the foul line. Wyatt Binckley, who with one out reached on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch, scored easily as the Bulldogs’ dugout and huge crowd rejoiced.
“I figured if I just swung something good would happen, even if I just moved the runner over,” Toomey said. “I don’t remember much about it except I was hoping it would drop in fair. I kind of blacked out for a moment. It’s just mind-blowing, mind-numbing to get the hit that sent us to the championship game.”
Hayden Woodward reached based all three times in the win over the Bears.
Venables had entered to replace undefeated starter Shane Coblentz, a first-team All-Ohio choice, who reached the 125-pitch limit two outs into the seventh.
Despite batting eighth in the order, Toomey is a .323 hitter who has excelled with runners in scoring position.
“I had a feeling when they brought the new guy in we’d have some better swings,” Heath coach Tom Warren said. “Whoever it is, whenever it is, I just wanted to see us give ourselves a chance.”
Riley Baum went the distance for the second-ranked Bulldogs (27-2), who will face fourth-ranked Millbury Lake (28-4) in the title game at 4 p.m. Sunday. In running his record to 8-2, he scattered seven hits in a workmanlike 111-pitch effort.
He battled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth.
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Heath had a chance to walk it off in the seventh, but Baum got caught trying to steal third after Waynedale players started to jog off the field and then argued an apparent inning-ending strike three call wasn’t called.
“We definitely had some momentum there,” Baum said. “I knew Connor would come through. He’s been hitting insane lately. He got his pitch and hit it.”
The Bulldogs rallied from a 3-1 deficit with two runs in the fifth.
Bulldogs pitcher, Riley Baum struckout Hudson Barkman with two outs remaining and bases loaded in the 6th inning, tied at 3.
Tannar Patterson was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by Hayden Woodward. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Woodward scored on a flyout by Kaden Green.
Waynedale (23-8) did much of its damage from the bottom of the lineup as all three runs scored with two outs. Barkman had a two-RBI double and Logan Troyer went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Wyatt Binckley slides into 2nd that leads him to score the winning run in the game.
Winner of previous state titles in 2002 and 2007, Heath was seeking redemption of sorts after losing to Harrison Central 2-1 in a state semifinal last June.
Millbury Lake 4, Minford 0
Reaching the state championship game may be a first for Lake, but coach Casey Witt hopes the magical ride isn’t over yet.
“We’ve made history but it will be a lot cooler tomorrow, hopefully,” Whitt said.
Lake is hoping not only to become the school’s first state champion in any team sport, but the first baseball team from Wood County to win a title since 1939 when Pemberville (now consolidated into Eastwood) turned the trick.
University of Toledo-bound senior pitcher Drew Tajblik, a first-team All-Ohio choice, allowed just four hits while striking out seven and walking one.
Bears pitcher Shane Coblentz threw 133 pitches before being replaced by OHSAA rules.
Tajblik’s leadoff infield single and subsequent stolen base set the table for a three-run eruption in the third inning that provided him all the support he needed. The Flyers did it with three hits and three fielder’s choices, along with their usual aggressiveness on the bases.
“That’s our brand of baseball,” Witt said. “We like to get multiple bases at a time. When Drew’s on the mound, we try to get a run or two early and it puts him at ease.”
Caleb Tobias went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs for Lake, which has only 13 players on its roster. Tajblik also helped his cause with a pair of hits.
“My outing felt really good,” Tajblik said. “My change-up was working well. At one point, coach came out to the mound and talked to me because I was rushing things a little. That’s very typical of him to do.”
Leadoff hitter Carson Cronin had two hits for unranked Minford (22-7).
Winning run, Wyatt Binckley who was hit in by Conner Toomey.
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