East Holmes answers, 'What is, pitch to him?' but the right answer produces the wrong result
The discussion centered on what to do with Vikings' leading hitter, Nick Binnie, coming to the plate for the fourth time after blasting a two-run, game-tying homer over the center field fence at Hiland High School's softball field in the third inning, before going down swinging in the fourth, when Derek Miller came on to relieve Hawks starter Jared Yoder, who had gone 3 and 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out three and walking two.
"I felt like we should walk him, us coaches all felt that way," explained Duane Miller, whose team was playing as the visitors against the two-time defending State champions out in Berlin, on Saturday, July 16, thanks to a coin flip prior to the start of the game. "I actually asked the boys, 'What do you guys want to do?' and Derek said, 'I want to pitch to him,' and Bryan said, 'I agree.' I was confident in their discussion, so I had to give them that. Whatever they chose to do it was their game."
Three pitches later their game, and season, were both over as Derek Miller followed two low-and-away deliveries with a belt-high pitch over the middle of the plate that was topped sharply to third, where a little bobble allowed Binnie to beat the throw to first, as Vikings' center fielder Donny Genetin scampered home with the winning run in a 4-3 heartbreaker.
"We talked about it, and I like the players to make the call," explained Duane Miller, whose team also fell by one run in a single-game playoff last season, propelling North Canton to its second straight State championship. "They actually told me, 'This is where we need it,' and I said, 'Great. You've got a plan. Let's go.' It was the right call. It should have been an out.
"The pressure from the base runner taking off probably ate [our third baseman] up, and it would any player. It's tough to do that, but that's the way it is. It's just hard for me to lose to North Canton. North Canton is almost like a rivalry, and that's good because it makes for good baseball."
Good defensive baseball is what prevented East Holmes from going up 1-0 in the top of the first, as Tyson Gingerich led off the game with a single but was gunned down at the plate on a beautiful relay from North Canton left fielder Josh Lupe to shortstop Jacob Saffell following a double into the left-center gap off the bat of Derek Miller, who started the game at shortstop for East Holmes.
After Hawks center fielder Chris Kline showed off his arm in the bottom of the inning, by catching North Canton's leadoff batter at second base for a fielder's choice on a sharply hit ball up the middle, the Hawks did jump out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when starting pitcher Jared Yoder roped a two-out double and came home to score on Gingerich's second-straight single.
"It was a well-played game all the way around," said Duane Miller who watched Jared Yoder work around leadoff walks in both the first and second innings, fanning two North Canton batters in the bottom half of inning number two and allowing East Holmes to extend its lead to 2-0 in the top of the third on a solo shot by Bryan Yoder, deep over the fence in right-center, coming on a curveball.
But Binnie answered with his two-run dinger in the bottom-half, chasing home North Canton catcher Ben Harris, who led off with a single, as the battery mates from each team accounted for the first four runs of the game.
After coming in to get Binnie swinging to close out the bottom of the fourth, Derek Miller continued that scoring trend in the top of the fifth, as the Hawks reliever led off with a double, moved to third on a ground out by Bryan Yoder and came home to score on a ground out to second from Noah Sommers, which put East Holmes back up 3-2.
But that lead wouldn't last long.
"These kids are two-time defending State champions, and they played over 30 baseball games at the District and State level, so they know how to finish," explained North Canton head coach, Bill Binnie, who watched his leadoff batter reach base on balls for the third time to start the bottom of the fifth, as first baseman Nathan Fox worked Derek Miller for the free pass. "You can see, they got down a little bit, pressure was there, pressure was there, pressure was there, and they just kept playing baseball."
Playing fundamental baseball and manufacturing the tying run in the bottom of the fifth, when second baseman Zach McHenry bunted for a single to move Fox to second, before he moved to third on a passed ball and came home to score on a ground out.
"[East Holmes] is a very good baseball team," said Bill Binnie. "Hats off to those guys, and hats off to our guys for staying in there when things got rough."
But it was hats off for good in 2011 for East Holmes after a rough sixth inning, in which Genetin reached base with the Vikings fourth leadoff walk, moving to second on a passed ball, cruising into third on a grounder to Gingerich - whose amazing diving stop in the fifth prevented another North Canton run - and scoring on the error-inducing shot off the bat of Nick Binnie, who also went five innings on the mound, allowing six hits, striking out five, walking two and hitting a batter.
"I was lucky enough to pitch the 12-year-old State championship game for Tallmadge in '72," said Bill Binnie afterward. "[Nick's] a good student, and he's a student of the game."
And he has a chance to duplicate his father's feat as North Canton advances to the State tournament in Englewood, Ohio for the third straight year.
But, it's back to the classroom and back to the drawing board for Duane Miller and company.
"Obviously, we're very disappointed in the outcome of this game because I think if we would have gotten through tonight we could have had a good shot tomorrow," said the East Holmes head coach, whose team finished with a 5-3 record through pool play and the double-elimination bracket, while North Canton advanced without a single blemish on its record, having staved off a winner-take-all rematch with East Holmes that would have been played on Sunday, July 17.
Had this game been played at a major league venue, no doubt a clever audio engineer would have been pumping Fleetwood Mac's, Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow throughout the ballpark, as fans slowly made their way to the exits.
And East Holmes won't stop thinking about tomorrow until next year.
Also taking place Friday, July 15 through Sunday, July 17, the Holmes County Knighthawks 12U traveling team played in the Nations Baseball sanctioned Dusty Diamonds Classic tournament, on the campus of Kent State University, going 4-1 over the weekend and finishing as the runners-up after falling 12-2 in the championship game to Premier Baseball Academy, out of Valley City, Ohio.
Four members of the East Holmes Williamsport 12U team also played for the Knighthawks, including Tyson Gingerich, Chris Kline, Mitch Massaro and Bryan Yoder.
The Knighthawks will wrap up their 2011 season when they travel to Pacesetter Park, in Sylvania, Ohio, to play in the Continental Amateur Baseball Association (CABA) World Series, Saturday, July 23 through Thursday, July 28.
Published: July 16, 2011
