THS baseball falls in epic regional final
Benton Smith
Senior Rob Schlicht went 2-for-3 at the plate for Tonganoxie High in the team's 2-1, nine-inning loss to Ottawa in a Class 4A regional final on May 19.
Following a 4-1 defeat of Eudora in a Class 4A regional semifinal Tuesday afternoon at Leavenworth County Fairgrounds, the Tonganoxie High baseball team lost a heartbreaker in its regional final, falling, 2-1, to Ottawa in nine innings.
Senior Jace Waters threw every pitch for THS in the final. It was a masterful performance as the right-hander struck out 14 batters and allowed only three hits while walking seven.
After allowing one hit in the first and another in the second — when THS got into trouble with two walks and an error — Waters kept 29 consecutive Cyclones from obtaining a hit. He struck out two batters in the first, second, fourth, eighth and ninth innings.
Waters showed almost no wear until the very end of the game, when he walked pinch hitter Dylan Nelson in the second and final extra frame. Nelson advanced to second on a wild pitch and another pinch hitter, Devin Martin, hit a game-winning single to center field.
“He gutted it up, and that’s what we had to have out of our seniors,” Tonganoxie coach Phil Loomis said of Waters. “It takes a lot of guts to go out there and battle that hard.”
Benton Smith
Jace Waters threw all nine innings for Tonganoxie in a 2-1, regional final loss against Ottawa on May 19, fanning 14 batters while allowing just three hits.
Waters also drove in the team’s only run. In the top of the third (as the No. 2 seed, THS was the visitor against No. 1 Ottawa), Blaize Oelschlaeger reached on a walk. After a single from Rob Schlicht, Brandon Yoder was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Waters drove in Oelschlaeger with a sac fly to center field.
But that was the only inning that featured more than four Chieftain at bats as OHS (16-5) pitchers Curtis Clayton, Carson Dunlap and Jake Moore held THS (15-7) to seven hits.
Schlicht was 2-for-3, Oelschlaeger, Yoder and Waters each went 1-for-3 and Dylan Puhr and Jon Harris both finished 1-for-4.
“A little knick here, a little knick there — whatever it took, we couldn’t quite get it over the hump,” Loomis said.
Chieftains win semifinal
Benton Smith
Blaize Oelschlaeger slides into home for Tonganoxie's fourth run in the second inning of a semifinal with Eudora. THS won, 4-1, to advance to the regional final.
Tonganoxie got another strong outing on the mound from Ethan Lorance in the team’s 4-1 semifinal victory over Eudora earlier in the evening.
The sophomore threw a complete game, allowed four hits and, after fanning the side in the top of the seventh, finished with 10 strike outs.
Schlicht reached on an error in the bottom of the first and later scored on a single to right off of Waters’ bat.
Eudora (15-7) tied the game in the top of the second but the Chieftains responded with three in the bottom of the inning.
Puhr led off with a double to right field. Later, Harris reached with a bunt single. After Harris stole second base, both he and Puhr were able to score on an Oelschlaeger grounder that was booted by Eudora’s first baseman. Following a single from Schlicht, Oelschlaeger scored on a botched pick-off attempt.
Waters was 2-for-3 in the win. Schlicht, Yoder, Puhr, Harris and Tyler Lupton had a hit apiece.
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- Senior Rob Schlicht went 2-for-3 at the plate for Tonganoxie High in the team’s 2-1, nine-inning loss to Ottawa in a Class 4A regional final on May 19.
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- Jace Waters threw all nine innings for Tonganoxie in a 2-1, regional final loss against Ottawa on May 19, fanning 14 batters while allowing just three hits.
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- Blaize Oelschlaeger slides into home for Tonganoxie’s fourth run in the second inning of a semifinal with Eudora. THS won, 4-1, to advance to the regional final.