Troy shortstop Brady O’Leary makes hard contact with what proved to be the winning hit…a solo homer in the fourth, his first as a Trojan. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Not as clean as games recent, and not as good as they’d have liked it. But Brady O’Leary’s fourth inning home run proved to be the winning run as Troy continued its winning ways with a Wednesday take-down of Tipp.
Troy, OH – Troy junior Brady O’Leary will long remember the day, the game, and the opponent, just as head coach Ty Welker will…only for different reasons.
A win is a win, is a win, yes. And the Troy Trojans overcame three errors and an up-and-down starting performance by pitcher Colton Akins to post a 7-3 win Wednesday over the rival Tipp Red Devils at Market Street Field, improving their record. to 12-1, overall, and 9-1 in Miami Valley League play. That’s the part that Welker will recall in his rocking chair someday, blanket draped across his lap.
Minster Bank proudly sponsors the best in area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Brady O’Leary, however, will remember the day and the win differently, as that day when he hit his first varsity home run as a Trojan, a solo shot in the fourth inning of a 3-3 ballgame that gave Troy the lead, and eventually proved to be the winning run.
“My first varsity home run,” he beamed later, trying not to break his face with too big a smile. “I’ll remember it.”
In the first to their two-game series that concludes Friday afternoon at Tipp, Welker’s Trojans played well enough to win against a good opponent, a Tipp team that was 12-4 coming in, and 7-1 (MaxPreps) in conference.
But Tipp gave them something to think about right out of the chute, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first when Colton Akins suffered control issues, walked a pair, and eventually gave up a two-out hit to Bryce Eckert that staked Tipp to a 2-0 advantage.
But only temporarily.
Troy came right back to tag Tipp starter Carson Jackson in the bottom of the inning…with 3 runs on 3 hits, taking advantage of a critical two-out throwing error by second baseman Ethan Harney, to go up 3-2.
Not at his best against Tipp, perhaps. “But he competes, at everything he does.” – Troy pitching coach Heath Murray
Akins settled himself enough to pitch a scoreless second, as did Jackson.
But Tipp came back in the top of the third to again take advantage of some ragged Troy play, and some Akins’ irregularity, to push across a run to tie, 3-3.
Koverman,Staley, Dickerson proudly supports your favorite high school sports on Press Pros Magazine.
“Today was Colton’s fourth start, probably,” said Troy pitching coach Heath Murray. “And he wasn’t at his best. But he competes. He always competes, at everything he does. That’s the way he plays in football, and that’s how he’ll play quarterback next fall.”
And Carson Jackson was competing, himself, throwing a second consecutive scoreless inning at Troy in the bottom of the third.
But tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth, O’Leary came to the plate and jumped on a Jackson slider up in the zone and lined it out to left centerfield, 360 feet from home plate for his first home run as a Trojan to give his team a lead, and himself a moment of redemption. Well documented by now, O’Leary, one of the state’s most talented defensive players, missed his entire sophomore season while recovering from an ACL tear suffered in basketball. Disheartening at the time, he patiently did the rehab work while keeping his spirits up for a full recovery, and for that fifteen seconds that it takes to round the bases for a home run, his spirits had never been higher.
Moments later teammate Aiden Gorman hit a deep fly ball to center field that scored Brayden Frantz with a second run in the inning, and the Trojans were in command, 5-3.
Akins pitched a scoreless fifth and was finished for the day, at least on the mound.
In the bottom of the fifth he singled to get on base and eventually reached third on a sacrifice fly…then scored on a ground ball out to increase the Troy lead to 6-3.
Trojan centerfielder Aidan Gorman runs down a fly ball to the gap during Wednesday’s win over Tipp.
One batter later, junior Andrew Westfall cranked a Jackson fastball over the fence in left field for his second home run of the year, and the Trojans were comfortably ahead, 7-3.
Warm and 74 degrees at first pitch, it turned dark in the fourth, the winds picked up in the fifth, and by the bottom of the sixth a storm with thundering and lightning caused a 30-minute delay for Troy reliever Tobey Seibert. But the game resumed with the sun shining, and Seibert faced four hitters in the top of the seventh to conclude things…Troy winning its 12th, 7-3.
The Trojans had 7 runs on 8 hits and committed 3 errors.
Tipp had 3 runs on 4 hits and committed 3 errors.
“It was a good win for us, because they’re a competitive group and they’re having a good year,” said Welker, afterwards. “Good for our confidence, and it kept our momentum going forward.
Dave Arbogast is a proud sponsor of area high school sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“And a good day for Brady, too,” he added, speaking of his shortstop. “And he’s a team player, too. He’s a kid that’s been successful in everything athletic he’s ever done. And to come back from that injury as he’s done…and baseball’s a weird sport, right? You’ve got to have so many skills. You just don’t show up for baseball. The best athletes in the world have struggled to play baseball. But his swing is finally coming back after so much time away with an injury like that. Defensively he’s been there all year, and now the swing is coming back. He has done it.”
Colton Aikins makes the dust fly advancing to third base on a sac fly in the fifth inning.
Playing baseball at the next level, and the highest level of the next level, has always been Brady O’Leary’s goal. So it was unimaginable to him to hear from the surgeon last year that he would have to miss an entire year of developmental time and valuable opportunity to have his game evaluated by college coaches.
“It’s good to be back,” he began, post-game, sharing his state of mind over the fears that come with playing through recovery from a serious knee injury. “When we played at the Dragons’ stadium against Butler last week, that was so much fun to be there and part of that environment. From the first to the seventh inning, it was so much fun to play.
“Healthwise, I feel great. From the time I took the brace off four games into basketball season, I said to myself that I would not think about the knee anymore. As soon as I took it off I was just free. I could run. I could move. No restrictions. I didn’t think about it anymore. It was a scary time, and it was hard. But I knew…God had a plan for me and that he doesn’t make mistakes. So I was able to trust in His plan.
Tipp’s Carson Jackson held the hard-hitting Trojan lineup to just three runs on five hits through the first four innings.
“I saw the game differently while I was sitting and watching. I sat with Coach Murray and he would explain about pitching to me. I sat with Coach Wells and he would talk about playing the infield. It was a setback at the time, but it was a good setback, if you know what I mean. There was nothing I could have done about it. It happened, it’s passed now, and I just want to look forward to the future now. Mentally, it’s helped me because I know I’ve worked through something that tough. And I know that that’s a plus for me.”
And a plus for Welker and the Trojans, because O’Leary holds down one of baseball’s most demanding positions.
And to Welker’s point about momentum, good baseball teams win when the starting pitcher has to figure a way to compete – to give his team a chance on a day when he’s not his best.
And good teams win when they get their shortstop back…having fun…the first home run…able to look to the future.
Even in a storm.
Such was their win over Tipp, with an encore on Friday.
Athletes In Action is proud to be a presenting sponsor of area sports on Press Pros Magazine.com. Call now for camp opportunities for your team in summer, 2026.