Junior Jake Reinhardt saw his best day of the season – 1 run on 2 hits, and 13 strikeouts – come to an unimagined end in the Division II distrixt finall. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
It was not the finish they imagined as the Troy Trojans’ bats went silent Thursday…and squandered a career-best performance by starting pitcher Jake Reinhardt in a 1-0 extra-inning loss to Anderson in the Division II district final.
Sharonville, OH – Afterwards, Troy’s long-time baseball coach Ty Welker did his best to put a good face on it…his best effort to quell his disappointment and the hurt that he felt for his baseball team. His kids.
Following a nine-inning 1-0 loss to Anderson High School in the Division II district finals…a game in which the bat-happy Trojans from the previous twenty five games could manage just two hits…and a game in which they squandered a two-hit, 13 strikeout performance from junior righthander Jake Reinhardt…the always classic, and classy Welker could hardly quell the emptiness that comes with losses of this magnitude – May 28, 2026.
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It shouldn’t have happened in the manner it did.
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But it did – an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning on a throwing error by catcher Brody Hoke, attempting to knock off Anderson’s Swing Mullins as he attempted to steal third base. The ball short-hopped Troy third baseman Colton Akins, rolled behind the infield and came to rest on the outfield grass, and before anyone could retrieve and throw it in time Regan had slid across home plate with what would become the winning run.
The Trojans, of course, would have a final at bat in the bottom of the ninth. But that much air escaping from the balloon in such a manner proved to be more than they could overcome in the bottom of the ninth – strikeout, strikeout, a single by Aidan Gorman, and a soft fly ball to left field by Logan Akers.
Anderson advanced to the regional round of the tournament with 1 run on 2 hits, and left five men on base for the game.
Missed opportunities…Troy’s Colton Akins is thrown out a home plate trying to score from third base on a sixth inning ground ball.
Troy fell to 22-4 for the season, with no runs on 2 hits, and left eight men on base. The hard-to-swallow reality was, as it always is…they had their chances.
In the third inning they put Logan Akers on base after being hit by a pitch, he moved to third base on two wild pitches by Anderson’s Brennan Trowbridge, and then was thrown out at the plate on a sharp ground ball to third base by Brody Hoke.
Again in the sixth inning Coltin Akins found himself on third base with one out and Brady O’Leary at the plate. O’Leary hit a sharp ground to third on one hop, Anderson’s Tyler Erwin threw a strike to the plate and knocked off Akins, who ran on first contact, by 15 feet.
It led to extra innings, and in the eighth inning Akins walked to open the inning, stole second, advanced on a sacrifice, and was left standing there when Andrew Westfall flailed at a third strike for the final out.
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And how many chances, Welker must have been wondering, do you get when karma feels like it’s headed south on 75 towards Anderson Township?
“It’s disappointing, sure,” said Welker, afterwards, always stoic, and always one to address context and perspective.
“We just couldn’t put a ball in play. Give Jake credit for doing what he does on the mound, and we played good defense. But it wasn’t the play in the top of the ninth that lost us that game. It was all the at bats earlier in the game when we just didn’t execute. We got guys on, we moved guys over, we just didn’t find some way to get a ball in play. We popped too many out, we struck out too much without making contact, and we lost our approach at the plate.
The unearned run in the ninth…happened on this errant throw on a steal attempt of third base. Anderson’s Swing Mullins got up and scored the winning run.
“We worked all season long on not getting beat in situations where if you put a ball in play somewhere you move a runner and score a run. We took too many strikes early in the count with runners in scoring position. All the things you do to score runs…all the things we practice…we just didn’t do today.”
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For those who had followed the Trojans throughout their previous 25 games it was eerily apparent…the number of fastball strikes they took early in the count from Anderson lefthander Brennan Trowbridge. And once they got behind in the count they put Trowbridge (6.2 innings, 1 hit, 6 strikeouts) and reliever Collin Evans (1 hit, 5 strikeouts, 2.2 innings) in a situation to expand the strike zone with the breaking ball and changeup, which they did effectively.
But as good as Trowbridge and Evans were, they were no match for Jake Reinhardt. Early on he simply overwhelmed Anderson hitters with his best fastball of the year. And by the third inning, when he began to find a feel for his secondary pitches, the Raptors (nee Redskins) hitters were feckless to face him, even with the few that they could muster on base.
“He did everything you ask a starting pitcher to do today,” added Troy pitching coach Heath Murray, who smiled at the irony of the moment. Because if you pitch long enough, and in relevant games of this magnitude, sooner or later the issue of non-support is bound to catch up when someone else pitches well against you.
“He executed everything, and he made one mistake…the ball they hit to right in the eighth inning where Logan Akers threw their runner out at the plate. Beyond that, he was dominant. I don’t know how many strikeouts (13), but I don’t think we threw a changeup today, and then about a dozen breaking pitches. Not that many. That’s how good he was with the fastball. And he’s done it all year. Today was what we’ve talked about all year. The little things matter, and in the tournament you either execute or you get executed.”
A diamond gem by Troy’s Kamdyn Penley in the sixth…he made the diving catch in left and doubled off the runner at the second base for the third out.
To Welker’s point about excellent defense, there were some highlights – left fielder Kamlyn Penley’s diving catch of a line drive in the sixth inning with the presence of mind to get to his feet and double a runner off second base for the third out.
And in the eighth, with an Anderson runner on second base, Logan Akers came up throwing on a single to right and rifled a strike to Brody Hoke at home plate for the tag that saved a run.
But it wasn’t enough.
And this one hurt, because over the course of 25 previous games there had not been that gap in competitiveness that you see in he average high school season. This had been one of Welker’s more timely teams in terms of moving the runner and getting the hit necessary to score a run. But not Thursday.
Aidan Gorman’s showed his frustration following the final out of the 2026 Troy season.
Frustrated by the irony of the moment and the irony of baseball, itself, Aidan Gorman slung his helmet in disgust as the final out was recorded in left field.
Ty Welker’s shoulders slumped as he stepped over the foul line to meet his team in their moment of disappointment.
Grantland Rice, a famous sportswriter from the Depression Era once praised the game of baseball for its renewable values in the face of failure.
“There’s always a tomorrow in baseball,” said Rice in one of his syndicated columns. “Except when the last tomorrow becomes today. It’s hard on days like that.”
No one need tell Ty Welker, Aidan Gorman, Jake Reinhardt, Brody Hoke and Brady O’Leary…the boys of spring in 2026. But for one base hit, May could well have become June.
And Sharonville could have been Akron!
Clutch play in the eighth inning…Logan Akers’ throw to Brody Hoke knocks out Anderson runner attempting to score go-ahead run.
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