Southeastern senior Aiden Harbage went 2-for-3 and senior Austin Miller had a triple as the Trojans ended their season 15-10, falling to Russia in the postseason for the second straight year.
“We were in it the whole time and we just didn’t get the timely hits or were able to advance a runner when we needed to,” Southeastern coach Darron Routzahn said.
Southeastern won a district title for the second straight season and advanced to a regional final game for the first time in 54 years.
“I’m proud of every one of them,” Routzahn said.
Russia junior Hayden Quinter went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and sophomore Braylon Cordonnier struck out nine as the Raiders improved to 25-6. Russia will play either St. Henry or Delphos St. John’s in a D-IV state semifinal game at 4 p.m. Thursday at Akron’s Canal Park.
“It was our goal with seven returning starters,” said Raiders coach Kevin Phlipot. “My biggest thing was that just because we won it, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. This game is tough. Our backs have been against a wall. These guys know that just because we may be the better team out there, it can be taken away at any moment. We didn’t take anything for granted. We knew we had to work and compete.”
The Raiders knew they had a target on their back after beating the Trojans 6-2 in a regional final game last season.
“They wanted this game back,” Phlipot said. “They didn’t play the cleanest game last year. They had us on the ropes a little bit. … That’s what I told our guys. They had this on their mind all year. They wanted this. They were ready. These guys have been through enough that they weren’t going to be intimidated or back down from any fight.”
Both teams had runners on base in the first three innings, but neither were able to put a run on the scoreboard.
In the fourth inning, Cordonnier led off with a double and moved to third on a fielder’s choice by junior Brayden Monnin. With no out and runners on first and third, the Trojans opted to walk Quinter to load the bases. With one out, Russia junior Jude Counts hit a sacrifice fly to right field to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Trojans junior Cole Walton singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Cole Erskine. Harbage singled to third and Walton scored on an overthrow at the plate to tie the game.
Russia broke through in the fifth inning to take the lead for good. With runners on first and second base with two outs, Monnin singled to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead. Quinter followed with a two RBI single to make it 4-1.
The Trojans threatened in the bottom of the sixth inning with back-to-back singles by junior Zach McKee and senior Kason Spears. Walton moved the runners to second and third base with a ground ball to shortstop, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.
“The first two got on and we couldn’t put the timely hits together when we needed to,” Routzahn said.
The Trojans will graduate five seniors from this year’s squad, including two starters, Routzahn said. They’ll return their two top pitchers in Mckee and Gehrig Cordial, both of whom threw no-hitters during the regular season.
“We’re going to build from this and move on,” Routzahn said. “We’re going to build and keep the tradition going.”
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