Heath drops nail-biting state semifinal to Harrison Central
AKRON ― Heath sophomore Tannar Patterson hit 86 miles per hour on the radar gun Friday night at Canal Park.
But in a tightly-contested, Division III state semifinal, where everything was magnified, it was the exit velocity off one swing of the bat by Harrison Central star Treston Nemeth that wound up deciding the game.
Nemeth blasted a two-run triple into the right-center field gap in the third inning, then made it stand up from the mound as the upstart Huskies (20-12) staved off the Bulldogs 2-1 to reach the state title game. They'll face defending champion Waynedale (23-9), which rallied past Ottawa Hills 6-2 in Friday's opener, for the state championship Saturday night.
"We walked a couple of guys, and they got a big hit. And we had trouble getting a couple of bunts down. That happens in baseball," said coach Tom Warren, who led Heath (23-9) to its first state berth since 2007's state championship under Dave Klontz.
"I thought he (Patterson) threw the ball extremely well today," Warren added. "It (the 86) surprised all of us. The strike zone was tighter than we anticipated, and there were a couple of pitches that could have gone either way. The big thing was, he gave us a chance like our pitchers have all year."
Patterson and Nemeth both threw four hitters. Patterson struck out 11 but uncharacteristically walked seven, and that led to the two runs that scored. Meanwhile, Nemeth pitched to contact, fanning just three and walking four, as both teams played errorless baseball. Two of Nemeth's walks were intentional to cleanup hitter Hayden Woodward, and they paid off.
"He (Nemeth) kind of reminded me of myself on the mound. Not a lot of strikeouts, but he pitched around us, hit his spots and made big pitches in key situations," Woodward said. "At the beginning of the game, we were swinging at pitches that we probably shouldn't have."
The Huskies, just 13-12 at the start of tournament play, turned double plays in the first two innings after Connor Corbett and Woodward had leadoff singles. Then, after they couldn't take advantage of two Patterson walks in the second, they did in the third.
Kaden Jurosko and Leland Lopez walked with one out ahead of Nemeth's big hit. After Nemeth's triple, Patterson avoided further damage by striking out Tucker Snyder and Braden Cook. He got Jace Madzia to line to left with two runners on in the fifth, and in the seventh, Madzia lined out to first with the bases loaded. Patterson stranded nine Central runners, but Heath could never fully get the bats going.
In the fourth, Kaden Green singled to center with two outs and stole second, then Woodward was intentionally walked. Nemeth fanned Jaiden Dansby.
In the sixth, Conner Toomey walked, stole second and rode home on Patterson's single down the right field line, making it 2-1. He then stole second, and Woodward was again walked. But Nemeth picked Patterson off second base, ending the threat.
"It was a questionable no-balk call, and I had some pitches that could have been called strikes, but at the end of the day, it's not on the umpires. It's on us," Patterson said. "We should have been hitting that guy. He was not overpowering at all. And we didn't get some bunts down like we had been lately."
In the seventh, Dansby worked a leadoff walk, and catcher Paul Gould entered as a pinch runner and stole second. But Nemeth got Cooper Bradley to pop to third, Riley Baum lined to center and Jacob Bunn lined to short, ending the game and the Bulldogs' run.
"I did not foresee all of this, but I knew we were solid," Warren said. "With this single-elimination format, nothing is guaranteed."
Heath loses just Bradley (first base), Bunn (third base) and Xavier Matthews to graduation, and returns its trio of stellar starting pitchers in Patterson, Baum and Woodward.
"Hopefully, next year, we're all going to come back throwing harder," Patterson said.
Woodward noted the Bulldogs will also be bolstered by players from a talented junior varsity team.
"We're going to come in next year ready to roll," he said. "We'll be hungry to come back and get it. We want it all."
His team is full of multi-sport athletes, and Warren said that is important.
"They'll go off and do golf, cross country, football or basketball, and they'll be competing," he said. "So they'll be ready to compete for us next year."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Heath baseball drops nail-biting OHSAA semifinal to Harrison Central
