Ian Bergman needed just 68 pitches and an hour and fifteen minutes to spin a one-hit shutout over Summit Country Day Tuesday in the Division V regional semi-final at Mason. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Senior Ian Bergman was masterful on a day when masterful meant moving on to the regional final. And Bill Sturwold’s Versailles Tigers showed all the signs of a team prepped for an ultimate matchup Wednesday with a Division V Final Four bid on the line.
Mason, OH – Words can hardly do Ian Bergman’s mastery over the Summit Country Day Knights justice in Tuesday’s OHSAA Division V regional 3-0 semi-final win at Mason High School.
But teammate and slick-fielding third baseman Ryan Treon somehow found a way.
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“He was just a great pitcher,” said Treon, face flushed with excitement over the Versailles Tigers’ 3-0 win to send them to Wednesday’s regional title matchup with Columbus Academy, out of Gahanna, 11-3 winners earlier in the day over Arcanum.
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“He pitches to contact and lets us play our game. He gets outs. He’s a great teammate ’cause he gives us a chance to win.”
Bergman, who struck out 3 and needed just 68 total pitches and 75 minutes of playing time to weave his magic over a good Summit team (22-7), sounded like a mutual admiration society member in returning praise for his teammate’s impressive play at third base throughout the game.
“He can make plays,” said Treon, a broad post-game smile carved as if in stone. “Even shaky plays, he makes them when they count the most.”
In a capsule that sums up one of Versailles’ best tournament baseball wins in recent history, it was nothing less than a gathering impression of a team playing its best when nothing less than a teams’ best will do.
With a little help from my friends…Versailles pitcher Ian Bergman (foreground) watches teammate Ryan Treon gun down a ground ball out during Tuesday’s win.
In a different capsule, it represented a redemptive win for Bill Sturwold, who eschews anything said or written about his eighth-year hiatus from coaching, but their 21-win season more than proves that Sturwold at his peak was one of the state’s best coaches and winner of two Division IV titles…and that he’s lost nothing of his touch and instinct for who, and how, to play the game.
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“I’m just privileged to coach these guys,” he said following Tuesday’s win. “That’s what it amounts to and there’s another, bigger game to play tomorrow. Today was a good win, but tomorrow would be a better win. Leave it at that.”
But almost from the outset the story of Tuesday’s win was Ian Bergman. Yes, the Tigers supported him with 3 runs on 6 hits and played error-free baseball.
The defense…second baseman Carson Bergman flashed leather on this backhand stop in the second inning. The Tigers played error-free baseball in the win over Summit Country Day.
But Bergman came out throwing strikes, retiring the side in order, inning after inning, and by the fifth inning it finally dawned on the mutually supportive crowd that watched…that he had yet to give up a hit. And the first threat of a hit came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Summit’s Gracin Houchin led off with a ringing line drive to left that skipped past Tigers left fielder Reece Magoteaux. By the time Magoteaux could run it down and get it back to the infield Houchin was standing on second base for an apparent double. Only…someone on the Versailles bench noticed that Houchin had failed to touch first base in his haste to get to second. Hit nullified, and history, such as it was to Ian Bergman, was still in the offing.
“Our trainer, Chad Keith, saw it,” said Bill Sturwold. “It wasn’t me. It was Chad, he pointed it out, and we appealed at first base. The umpire saw it, too, and when we appealed he had the guts to call him out. That was a big play at the time because we were still only up 1-0 at the time.”
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And it seemed to give Bergman a second wind, as he quickly retired the second and third outs, then breezed through the sixth, and came to the bottom of the seventh with a 3-0 lead…and the no-hitter in tact. He retired the first out in the seventh on a ground ball to Ryan Treon at third, then the second out on a fly ball above Sam Deland at shortstop…and with two outs first baseman Lucas Reder lined the second pitch he saw past Magoteaux in left for a double. And being careful to step on first, this time the hit counted. The final out came a moment later on a fly ball to Colin Francis in right, on his 68th pitch.
Good days come with their bruises…Versailles’ Ryan Treon takes a pitch in the ribs during Tuesday’s 3-0 win at Mason.
But credit, too, to Summit Country Day and pitcher Jack Phillabaum who pitched without a dent until Versailles scored in the bottom of the fourth. With one out Blake Monnin bunted for a single, then stole second base, and scored on an RBI single by Ian Bergman (who else)…the Tigers taking a 1-0 lead.
It stayed that way, nervously, until Versailles came to the plate in the top of the seventh.
Magoteaux reached base on a throwing error by the shortstop to start the inning. He reached second on a sac bunt by Carson Bergman, then scored on a one-out RBI single by Eli Kaiser. Colin Francis reached base on a throwing error by Summit’s third baseman, moving Kaiser to third…and Sammy Deland scored Kaiser with an anticipated squeeze bunt to boost the Tigers’ lead to 3-0. Now, it was Bergman time.
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“I really wasn’t thinking about it (the no-hitter),” said Bergman. “I was focused on the win. Nothing felt different when I went out for the seventh except the extra runs. The double was a ball that left up in the strike zone.”
But it necessitated a trip to the mound, anyway, by Sturwold.
“I never mentioned the no-hitter. And we were going to let the run at second base score, if necessary,” he said. “All we wanted was a third out…the win.”
That came a moment later on the fly by to Colin Francis.
Versailles improved to 21-9 with 3 runs on 6 hits and no errors.
“It was a good win,” said Sturwold. “They’re a good team. I’m really happy for the kids because we put the ball in play today. Ian gave us a great start on the mound, and with the wind blowing in the way it was you knew you weren’t going to score more than four or five runs. And it was very important to get those extra runs in the seventh. They’ve got some good players and they hit a couple of balls hard. Again, the kid missing first base was a big play because it was only 1-0 at the time.”
It’s regional round baseball…and you question everything. Versailles will meet Columbus Academy Wednesday at 5 pm in the Division V regional final.
Versailles Athletic Director Scott Broerman came to the dugout following the final out to congratulate him, mindful, of course, of what such a significant win must mean after so many years away – so many questions as to whether he’d ever be in this situation again.
Sturwold smiled his acknowledgment, but beyond that…nothing more. There was a still a game to play tomorrow, an even bigger game, and one that at the moment he wanted more than the one he had in hand.
“We start working on the bus home,” he responded. “Randy Baker is a good friend (Arcanum coach), and I’ll call Randy to find out something about Columbus Academy. I’m sure he’ll help me any way he can.”
Sunrise Wednesday is scheduled for 6:13 am, but it won’t be up before Sturwold.
“It’s that time,” he said before getting on the bus. “Big game tomorrow, and if we can win that one the kids get to play next week in Akron and come home to the Poultry Days festival. Great experience for ’em.”
He concluded with a knowing, and showing, smile.
Great experience for everyone, even Bill Sturwold.
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