ASHLAND — Momentum came in the tiniest of increments on Thursday for the Ashland baseball team in a Division I sectional final against visiting Toledo St. John’s.
Luckily, the small things added up to a scintillating, 3-2 comeback win in front of a raucous crowd at Bud Plank Field at Archer Arrows Park.
Guided by the right arm of ace Luke Bryant, the Arrows captured their first sectional crown since 2012 behind two runs in a wild bottom of the sixth inning.
The victory vaulted Ashland (18-6) into a district semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Perrysburg at Carter Park in Bowling Green.
“After the first few innings I was getting a little worried, but this crowd brought it,” said junior shortstop Alex Grissinger, who had a few stellar plays in the field and scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the sixth. “We had a lot of fun and we fed off their energy tonight.
“Playoff atmosphere, there’s nothing like it.”
“Today might have been the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at an Ashland baseball game here at home,” added sixth-year Arrows head coach Rick Gough, who has been coaching baseball at AHS in some capacity for 34 years.
The Ohio University-bound Bryant continued his eye-popping senior season, tossing a complete-game three-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
“We knew Luke was going to throw a great game so all we had to do was get him a couple of runs, and that’s what we did,” said junior center fielder Michael Franz, whose two singles made him the only multi-hit player in the game.
After hitting St. John’s leadoff batter Kenyon Miller in the back on the game’s first pitch, Bryant went to work. The right-hander threw 60 strikes on 82 pitches and fell into a hitter’s count to just one batter all game while executing with his slider and low-90s fastball.
The Titans scored the game’s first run on a sharp two-out infield single in the second, then went ahead 2-0 in the fourth when Cooper Johnson scored from third on a wild pitch after his leadoff triple.
Had it not been for a fifth-inning walk, Bryant would have retired the final 12 batters in order after that. He whiffed eight over the final four innings and got an errorless game from his defense, keeping the door open for the AHS comeback.
“They just field the ball and make plays, that’s all it is,” Bryant said of the defense behind him.
But the Titans (6-20) didn’t make anything easy for the Arrows, carrying one of the most deceiving records in Ohio into Thursday’s game.
Just three years removed from a run to the Division I Final Four, fifth-year head coach Sam Fischer stacked St. Johns’ schedule with talented teams. Playing for the first time as a member of the Detroit-based Catholic High School League, the Titans had 20 games decided by three or fewer runs — 11 of them one-run games.
“Our whole approach is just to face adversity, try to be battle-tested,” said Fischer, whose team made the regional semifinals a year ago before graduating six starters — three of whom now play in college. “Obviously, we were in a battle here and baseball broke our heart.”
St. John’s junior right-hander Jon Tober didn’t make anything easy for the Arrows, carrying a three-hit shutout through the fourth inning.
But Ashland got a glimmer of hope in the fifth when senior Owen Shade roped a leadoff triple to right-center. Senior pinch-runner James Kinney then scored from third on a wild pitch with two outs, just beating the tag to cut the score to 2-1.
Bryant cruised through the sixth on 10 pitches and Ashland’s Ethan Bunce got the rally going in the bottom half.
The senior catcher roped a one-out single to center and was replaced by sophom*ore pinch-runner Tanner Wolfe.
Grissinger then bounced a potential double-play ball to second, but it got past the Titans second baseman and scooted into center. Wolfe didn’t hesitate to motor around to third, and after Bryant walked to load the bases, Tober was removed for left-hander Carson Bruning.
Ashland senior CJ Cox followed with a swinging bunt that slowly rolled up the first-base line, and Bruning bobbled it, allowing Wolfe to score and tie the game at 2-2.
Bruning then managed to collect himself and strike out Shade, but the third strike kicked away from freshman catcher Mason Williams and Grissinger stormed home, just slapping his hand on home plate in front of the tag.
The speedy junior celebrated his go-ahead run before the call was even made and the home crowd roared.
Gough said the sixth has been the highest-scoring inning all season for Ashland.
“Bunce led us off and then we just kind of got some dinkers that kept us going and we were all just trying to score any chance we had,” Grissinger said.
“We’re in tournament ball now and we need to capitalize on mistakes,” Bryant added.
It was just one highlight on the night for Grissinger, who made a barehanded play on a ball that glanced off Bryant’s hand to end the second inning, then dazzled with a stop up the middle and a spinning throw to first to get the opening out in the fifth.
“The kids believe in themselves, they get along,” Gough said. “I think it’s just coming together.”
Bryant closed things out in the seventh with his last two strikeouts of the night. He improved to 5-2 on the season with 76 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched.
“The Bryant kid has a really nice arm, and we were regularly seeing (pitchers like) that,” said Fischer, who started three freshman Thursday and has just one senior starter. “With a lot of young guys, I’m glad they faced it this year so they can come back next year (and be better).”
“What I’m really proud of is you wouldn’t know we were a 6-20 team,” he added, “just the way they are together, their energy towards the game and the way they play.”
Tober was the tough-luck loser, logging six strikeouts in 5.1 innings. He finished his junior season 0-5 despite a 3.06 ERA over 34.1 innings.
The Arrows, meanwhile, advanced with what seemed like a contribution from nearly every player on the roster.
They improved to 12-2 at home, 13-3 in their last 16 games and 6-1 in one-run games.
Finally breaking through for a sectional title was a key goal for the squad all year. The last team to do it for AHS was a senior-led 2012 squad that went 23-5 and made the Elite Eight behind a Division I-bound ace in Adam Schaly (Stetson University).
This year’s Arrows hope to stay alive just the same.
“We’ve been in these close games all year and we always seem to find a way to get the win,” Franz said. “This team is a family; we win together, we lose together and I just don’t want this to end.”
