By: Chris Ginley
OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio- A bright, sunny day in Olmsted Falls saw two Southwestern Conference rivals meet in the sectional final. Offense was aplenty for both teams as Olmsted Falls and Avon Lake met to advance in tournament play to the Lorain District semifinals.
The start of the game was all Olmsted Falls. After Bulldogs staring pitcher Nate Causey set down the top of the Avon lake order 1-2-3, Olmsted Falls bats went right to work. After a walk and a single by Bret Asadorian and Teddy Grendzynski, respectively, Jack Spellacy cleared the bases with a mammoth triple to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Spellacy would score the next at-bat when Brian Eiseman hit a sacrifice fly. Olmsted Falls would tally two more runs in the bottom of the first to give them a huge 5-0 lead. “It was important to have a big inning right off the bat,” said Olmsted Falls Head Coach Todd Urban.
Causey continued his strong start in the top of the second, continuing to hit his spots and not waste too many pitches. He only allowed one batter to reach a full count once during the first two innings. Olmsted Falls Head Coach Todd Urban had this to say about Causey’s big day on the mound, “His start today was huge. He is out #1 starter and he has thrown in some big games.”
The top of the third was when Avon Lake got the boost that it needed to try and get back in the game. The top three hitters singled, walked and singled in consecutive at-bats, with Avon lake starter Jacob Krukowski singling leadoff hitter Jacob Caraballo in to get the Shoremen their first run of the game. Tanner Russell would clear the bases two batters later with a double to make it 5-3. Russell would score when Mike Sacco reached on an error by the Olmsted Falls left fielder.
Olmsted Falls would continue their strong hitting in the bottom half of the third inning with timely hitting from the middle of the order. Eiseman and Sully Kilbane would single in the first two batters and they would load the bases when Kyle Humenick would get hit by a pitch. The Bulldogs would get two more runs when Jared Feskanich would single home a run and Jared Yako got his first of his five RBI’s he would have this game. Asadorian would then get a sac fly to increase the lead to 8-4.
Avon Lake responded with two runs in the top of the fourth, continuing to put their never quit attitude on display. Ethan Shepard would single in two big runs to pull the Shoremen within two.
Outside of Spellacy scoring another run in the bottom of the fourth, the rest of the game would be rather uneventful, until the seventh.
With Avon Lake down to their last out, the Shoremen would reel off four straight hits, starting with a Connor Koncelnik bunt single. Down to their last strike, Russell would single to bring the tying run to the plate. The Bulldogs would bring in Kilbane totry and close the game out. Sacco would double them both in to score, and Aidan Jantz would tie it up with another double the very next hitter.
Causey would double to right-center field to put the winning run on second for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Humenik would strike out, but advance to first on a dropped third strike. Feskanich would then be intentionally walked to load the bases for Yako. With the Bulldogs needing only one run to advance to the district semifinals, Yako would drive a pitch over the left-centerfield wall for a walk-off grand slam and secured a 13-9 victory for the Bulldogs.
Olmsted Falls got production from their entire lineup, as every hitter got on base at least once. “It was good to have everyone reach base. We have been working hard all year. We have an older, but inexperienced team, so it was good to see them produce,” said Urban.
With the win, Olmsted Falls will go on to face Amherst on Monday in the Lorain District semifinals. Urban had this to say about the Bulldogs’ big matchup, “we have had some close games with them. It will be exciting to face such a great team.”
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