Baseball Team Ousted In Sectional
04 Jun 2009

In a pitcher’s duel, the Lewis Cass Kings ended the Manchester Squires’ season 2-1 Monday night to advance to the championship game of the Wabash Sectional.
With Manchester leading 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, Cass took advantage of two errors by the Squires to score two runs, then held on for the win.
Drew Fowler led things off with a walk. Caleb Comoglio moved him over to second with a sacrifice bunt.
With one out, Cam Cummings appeared to fly out to right field, but Derrek Freshour couldn’t handle the catch, allowing Fowler to score. Schuyler Collett bobbled the relay home, and his throw was off the mark, allowing Comoglio to reach third base.
Keith Lee drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.
“That inning hurt us, but we also left nine guys on base,” Manchester coach Jack Rupley said.
The Squires got their only run of the game in the top of the fourth inning.
Dylin Kennedy started things off with a single, then moved to second on a wild pitch. Freshour moved Kennedy to third with a sacrifice bunt.
Clint Bischoff grounded to third, but Kennedy scored on an error to give the Squires a 1-0 lead.
Manchester had a chance to take an even bigger lead in the fifth inning, but left two men on base.
Matt Carver singled, followed by a walk from Brady Miller with one out.
Cody Semler moved Carver and Miller to second and third, respectively, with a sacrifice bunt, but Kennedy grounded out to second to end the inning.
In the sixth, Freshour started things off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Bischoff. However, Ryan Binkley grounded out, and Collett struck out to end the threat.
Cass also had a chance to blow the game open in the sixth, but left runners on second and third after Evan Depew grounded out to first and Fowler struck out.
With one last chance in the seventh inning, Carver reached on a throwing error, but Brady Miller and Semler both popped out to end the game.
“(Andrew) Troutman did a real good job of keeping us off balance at the plate,” Rupley said.
Manchester pitcher Scott Baker didn’t have a bad game himself, giving up two unearned runs on four hits, striking out eight and walking two.
In Manchester’s two sectional games (see below for round 1), Baker and Connor McLaughlin didn’t give up an earned run.
From the plate, Thomas, Carver, Brady Miller, Kennedy, and Freshour all had one hit.
First Round Win
Two weeks ago, the Manchester High School baseball team needed a walk-off grand slam home run from Clint Bischoff in the bottom of the seventh to defeat North Miami 12-11.
Thursday night in the opening game of sectional, it took some timely hitting, pitching, and clutch defense for the Squires to knock off the Warriors 4-1.
“We survived to play another game,” coach Jack Rupley said.
Connor McLaughlin got the win on the mound to improve to 7-0 on the season. The freshman gave up seven hits, struck out six and walked two in the complete game win.
Meanwhile, North Miami pitcher Stewart Fuller struggled early before calming down, but it was the first inning that gave the Squires the lead for good.
With one out, Matt Carver reached on an infield single. Brady Miller walked, moving Carver to second.
Cody Semler hit a grounder to second. Miller was forced out at second, but a throwing error allowed Carver to score from second.
Semler advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead.
Dylin Kennedy walked, and Derrek Freshour was hit by a pitch, but Bischoff grounded out to Fuller to end the inning.
McLaughlin recorded his third strikeout in two innings to keep the Warriors guessing.
North Miami threatened to get back into the game in the top of the third.
Seth Robinson walked, then stole second. Austin See singled, moving Robinson to third.
Zachary Roth hit a line drive up the middle, but Carver was there at second for the catch, then doubled up See at first.
In the bottom of the fourth, Manchester added two more runs for a 4-0 lead.
Freshour walked and moved to second on a bunt single from Bischoff. Ryan Binkley advanced them to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, and Schuyler Collett drove in Freshour with a single.
Corey Thomas was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Carver connected on a single to left with just one out to score Bischoff.
Despite having the bases loaded with one out, the Squires weren’t able to add any more insurance runs.
Brady Miller struck out and Semler popped out to end the inning.
Once again, North Miami threatened to get back into the game in the top of the fifth.
Zachary Haner singled and moved to second on a bunt single from See with one out.
Roth drove in Haner after a ground ball got through Semler’s legs at third to cut the lead to 4-1.
An infield single from Skyler Duncan loaded the bases with still just one out.
McLaughlin struck out Richard Bahney, then got Fuller out on a dribbler that Miller fielded in front of the plate for the final out.
In the top of the sixth, McLaughlin took care of things on his own, fielding two grounders back to the mound, then striking out Haner to end the inning.
The Squires were held scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, giving North Miami one final shot at getting back in the game.
Aaron Barker led things off with a single. See tried to advance Barker with a slap bunt, but lined out to Semler, who doubled up Barker at first.
McLaughlin struck out Roth for the third out to end the game.
”Our defense came through for us tonight,” Rupley said. “We had some nice double plays to shut them down. The Fuller kid a real nice job against our hitters, keeping us off balance, but we got the runs when we needed them.”
Carver led the Squires at the plate, going 2-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Collett went 1-3 with an RBI. Thomas, Bischoff and Binkley all had one hit each.
The Squires end their season with a record of 14-10-1 on the year. They lose eight seniors, Schuyler Collett, Matt Carver, Sam Thomas, Derrek Freshour, Cody Semler, Ryan Binkley, Corey Thomas, and Nate Miller.
“We are really going to miss our eight seniors,” Rupley said. “What good young men they are. They did wgat was asked of them and were always behind each other.”