CHILLICOTHE — Especially with the introduction of a pitching clock at the major league level, baseball has slowly been morphing into a fast-paced atmosphere that is focused on cutting the length of games. Though, that doesn’t mean all levels of ball have to go through the same issue.
Going to the tenth inning of a never-ending crucial District semifinals matchup against a divisional rival in Eastern at Paints Stadium in Chillicothe, Trimble did all it could to try and pull off the extra-innings upset but a two-out RBI from the Eagles would clinch a 3-2 victory to end the Tomcats’ season just short of a District final appearance. The third time overall this year, it was the second time this season that Trimble fell by one run to Eastern.
In a classic pitchers duel, strong arms from both sides were able to keep this low-scoring with neither’s offense being able to string anything together. Bradley Cahoe would get the nod to start for Trimble, ultimately picking up the loss after nine impressive innings. He allowed five hits and three earned runs, striking out nine while allowing four walks.
At the plate, Trimble mustered up six hits with two-hit days from Cahoe and Owen Sikorski out of the 2-3 hole leading the way. Brandon Burdette would grab a hit and two runs scored in his final high school game while Chayse Henry also secured a hit. The Tomcats would also take advantage of three errors from Eastern’s defense on the day.
For the Eagles, Brady Rockhold would get the start but lasted just three innings, allowing five hits and two runs in the process. Peyton Buckley would then come onto the mound in relief and shine, picking up the win after seven innings of scoreless ball. He allowed just one hit over that span, striking out five while allowing four walks.
Ayden Wilhelm would be the only Eagle to grab multiple hits, scoring a run in the process. Alex Collins would grab the team’s lone RBI on one hit while Hunter Needs, Lance Hensler and Rohwan Gilmore all pitched in one hit.
Despite ultimately going the final seven innings of the night without scoring a run, Trimble would actually put a ton of pressure on Eastern early in the contest.
The very first batter of the game, Burdette would line a single into left field but an error from the Eagles’ defender allowed the senior to come all the way around to score. Just two pitches in Trimble held a lead. A couple of innings later, Burdette would score for the second time, this one coming off a sacrifice fly from Cahoe as the Tomcats held on to a 2-0 advantage.
In the midst of this, Cahoe was absolutely dealing on the mound with 12 of the first 14 batters he faced being sent down. Though, sometimes the things going in your favor the most ultimately poison you in the end.
Things would start to falter for Trimble in the bottom of the fifth when the Eagles found themselves with a couple of men on base and two outs. Right after, a wild pitch from Cahoe would allow two runs to come in on the same error, suddenly tying things up at two in the blink of an eye.
With things squared up once again, neither side would get more than one runner on base for the next few innings as the schools went into the ninth inning still deadlocked with tensions certainly rising at every moment.
Trimble got a runner into scoring position in the top of the ninth but two consecutive outs would end the chance. Things wouldn’t get smoother in the following frame with only one man reaching base before handing the bats over to Eastern in the bottom of the 10th.
After an RBI double from Gilmore to lead off the frame, Wright took over on the mound and entered the game. The star senior got the first two batters out but an RBI double to center field off the bat of Collins one batter later would walk it off for the Eagles, sending Trimble home for good in one of the most heartbreaking fashion’s possible.
Local News
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