EDITOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to the Valley Indians, 5-2 victors over Hiland in the Division IV, Region 15 final on Saturday afternoon. Eyeoncleveland.com will have a story on the game posted by Monday morning, June 7.
Hiland advances over East Knox,
Hawks win streak at eight games
Casey Lowe tossed a three-hit shutout and his teammates’ timely hitting and great glovework combined for an 8-0 Hiland triumph over East Knox Friday evening in the OHSAA’s Regional 15 semifinals.
It marks the eighth consecutive triumph for the Hawks, who will meet Friday’s other semifinal victor, Valley (Lucasville), at 3 p.m. at Beavers Field in Lancaster for the Regional championship. The winning team advances to the State Tournament/State Finals in Akron June 10-12.
Lowe, now, 7-3 on the season, fanned six and walked two in seven innings of work on the mound. He got excellent support at the plate from his teammates, especially from sophomore right fielder Isaak Yoder and catcher Isaiah Miller. Yoder, hitting eighth, laced a double to the warning track in left in the second inning and scored two batters later on an error.
An inning later, Hiland sent seven batters to the plate and notched four runs. None was bigger than Yoder’s home run, a blast of about 345 feet over the left field fence, with teammate Collin Lowe scoring ahead of him.
Miller added two doubles and two RBIs, including a long hit to right center in the first frame which drove home Casey Lowe with the game’s first run . Hiland then extended its lead to 2-0 on a Nolan Yoder sacrifice fly. Collin Lowe also drove home a run with a single in the third.
The middle third of Hiland’s line-up, Miller, Collin Lowe and Isaak Yoder, accounted for four of the team’s seven hits and four RBIs against East Knox. The Hawks also scored two unearned runs, helped in part by three East Knox errors.
“Casey (Lowe) threw really well. You can’t speak enough about that,” said Hiland Coach Chris Dages after the game. “It starts there on the mound with him, keeping guys off base.”
Dages also praised his right fielder Yoder. “Ike’s seeing the ball really well, and he’s playing good defense,” Dages added. “He’s having a tremendous run in the tournament for us.”
Excellent defense contributed to the shutout. Hiland turned one double play, picked off a runner, and Yoder turned in a great assist when East Knox’s Landon Spearman tried to stretch a right-field single into a double in the fourth inning. Yoder found shortstop Nolan Yoder with an accurate throw, tagging out Spearman.
With help from his defense, Casey Lowe faced only three batters more than the 21 a starter would normally oppose in a seven-inning perfect game. Lowe hurled 85 pitches, 54 of them strikes, and threw first-pitch strikes to 15 batters.
Hiland’s Derrick Troyer (10-0, 1.60 ERA) will take to the mound today against the Valley Indians for the District 15 Regional Championship contest and the right to advance to States. Troyer will be opposed by Valley’s Carter Nickel (5-1, 0.96 ERA).
See BOX SCORE (scroll down to the bottom) for Hiland and East Knox below.
Hear Coach Chris Dages’ post-game comments by clicking here:
Hear East Knox Coach Randy Baugher’s post-game comments by clicking here:
REGIONAL SEMIFINAL: Valley 2, Paint Valley 0
Sophomore George Arnett’s arm and bat helped carry the Valley High (Lucasville) Indians to a 2-0 victory over the Paint Valley Bearcats in an OHSAA Division IV, Region 15 SemiFinal game this afternoon.
Arnett, now 9-5 on the season, tossed 81 pitches in hurling a six-hit shutout. Walked just one batter while fanning five. He also lashed an RBI double to left field in the first inning, plating the second of the Indians’ two runs. A Breckon Williams RBI line drive to left brought leadoff hitter Andrew Andronis home for Valley’s first run. Arnett’s blast scored Williams.
And that was all runs the Indians needed. Bear Valley’s biggest threat came in the fifth when Devlen Spradlin and Cadyn Norman hit back-to-back singles, but Arnett retired the next three consecutive batters to quench the threat.
Arnett changed speeds well, alternated between his fast ball and curve, and placed pitches excellently. Paint Valley Coach Shayne Combs credited Arnett at his ability to keeping opposing hitters off balance.
“He’s been our rock” Valley Coach Norman Crabtree said of Arnett. “I’m very proud of him. He never gets rattled.”
Valley will face the winner of either East Knox (15-12) or Hiland as the Bulldogs, in their first ever Regional tournament, oppose the 26-4 Hiland Hawks at 5 p.m.
NEXT UPDATE: After the Hiland-East Knox Game
Hear Coach Crabtree’s post-game comments here:
Hear Coach Combs’ post-game comments here:
BOX SCORE DETAIL FROM EAST KNOX V. HILAND (Courtesy of Gamechanger.com website)
| East Knox Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
| Weston Melick | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bryar Householder | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Peyton Lester | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Landon Spearman | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bracen Davis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sam Pintz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Teddy Sears | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Cole DeLaughder | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Carson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shane Knepp | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Morton | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Batting TB: Shane Knepp, Weston Melick, Landon Spearman
ROE: Landon Spearman
FC: Bryar Householder
GIDP: Weston Melick
PIK: Bracen Davis
Team QAB: 9 (37.50%)
Sam Pintz 2, Cole DeLaughder, Teddy Sears, Peyton Lester, Weston Melick, Bryar Householder 2, Landon Spearman
Team LOB: 3
Fielding E: Sam Pintz, Weston Melick, Bryar Householder
| Hiland Lineup | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO |
| Jared Hostetler | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Casey Lowe | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reece Schlabach | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Isaiah Miller | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nolan Yoder | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Collin Lowe | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Derrick Troyer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaak Yoder | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Grant Miller | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Yoder | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 27 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
Batting
2B: Jared Hostetler, Isaiah Miller 2, Isaak Yoder
HR: Isaak Yoder
TB: Jared Hostetler 2, Casey Lowe, Collin Lowe, Isaiah Miller 4, Isaak Yoder 6
RBI: Collin Lowe, Isaiah Miller 2, Isaak Yoder 2, Nolan Yoder
SF: Nolan Yoder
ROE: Jared Hostetler, Casey Lowe, Reece Schlabach
SB: Collin Lowe
Team QAB: 12 (41.38%)
Jared Hostetler, Collin Lowe, Grant Miller, Isaiah Miller 2, Reece Schlabach, Derrick Troyer 2, Isaak Yoder 3, Nolan Yoder
Team LOB: 3
Fielding E: Derrick Troyer
DP: Collin Lowe, Derrick Troyer, Nolan Yoder
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