Dream Weaver gets Hawks through rough spot in Central Regional opening 7-2 win over Illinois
So to find himself on the mound at a crucial moment of East Holmes Senior League's Central Regional opener against Illinois was something he may have dreamed about, but certainly never figured would happen.
However, it did happen, and just like he had dreamed about, Weaver came through with flying colors, helping the Hawks earn a 7-2 win in another attempt to defend their Central Regional title.
It took the Hawks a little while to get things started against Illinois in the opener of the Central Regional tournament in Peru, Ill., but once they did, they looked fantastic in trying to defend their Central Regional title.
The Hawks went through the first three innings three up, three down, but got the bats going the second time through the order, and eventually earned a 7-2 victory over the Illinois State champions.
Starting pitcher Jordan Yoder allowed a first inning unearned run on a walk, two hits and an error, but got a huge strikeout with the bases loaded to limit the damage, leaving the bases loaded.
Yoder continued to walk on the wild side in the second, walking three Illinois hitters, but again got a key strikeout and catcher Blake Bunch gunned down a would-be base stealer at second to keep Illinois off the board.
Yoder gave up a single and a walk in the third, but again stranded two, continuing to work his magic show with runners in scoring position.
The Hawks finally broke through against Illinois starting pitcher Dan Kienzle in the fourth. Richie Mast singled to left, and after Yoder struck out, Kevin Schrock hit a chopper in the hole at short. The throw came to the plate, and while the ball beat Mast home, he made a nice slide and eluded the tag to knot the score at 1-1. Yoder then cruised through the fourth, and the Hawks went to work.
Blake Bunch singled to lead the fifth inning off, and was run for by Alec Mast. Mast then raced around to score the Hawks' first run when hot-hitting Caleb Miller crushed a Kienzle fast ball down the right field line for an RBI triple. Miller would then score on Kyle Troyer's ground out to make it 3-1.
Yoder gave up a single and a walk to begin the fifth, and his day was over. That's when head coach Mike Yoder turned to the little-used Weaver, who has been plagued by injuries, and gave him his opportunity to shine.
"We've got to trust our pitchers, and Aaron has really looked good in his bullpen sessions the past couple of weeks," said Yoder. "I wouldn't have given him the ball if I didn't think he could handle it."
Burly Illinois catcher Matt Skora hit a laser off Weaver, but it was right at center-fielder Richie Mast. One out. A walk loaded the bases, and a trip to the mound ensued, where Coach Yoder told Weaver to quit nibbling and do what he is capable of doing.
Weaver listened, sitting down David Lopez and Dan Foley on strikeouts to end the threat and give East Holmes all of the momentum.
"I was pretty nervous the first couple of pitches, but I got a little ticked off after the walk, and really bore down after Mike told me to quit nibbling," said Weaver. "I got a little more aggressive."
East Holmes then came in and did exactly what it needed to do in building some cushion between itself and a very good Illinois team.
After Yoder grounded out, Schrock was hit by a pitch, moving to second on a wild pitch and then reaching third when he slid in safely on a Todd Ropp fielder's choice. He scored when Sheldon Mullet reached on an error, and then Bunch delivered a key hit, mashing a ringing two-run, two-out double to center field to make it 6-1. He would then score on Caleb Miller's bullet base hit to left to make it 7-1.
Weaver would give up a solo home run to Dominik Fosco in the sixth, and with two outs would be relieved by Kendall Borntrager, who would give up a double off the top of the fence in left-center, but would escape by coercing lead-off hitter Pat Houlihan into a lazy pop up to second to end the inning.
Borntrager cruised through the seventh, and Ohio was celebrating a very solid victory over a good team.
"I think our nerves were getting to us early, but once we settled in we played well," said Bunch. "When they started to go to their relievers, we wanted to jump on them right away, and we started hitting like we can."
While the rest of the team went a paltry 1-for-20 at the plate, hitters six through eight, Bunch, Miller and Borntrager, were raking it at a six-for-nine clip, producing most of the offense for the Hawks.
"We said coming in that our bottom would have to produce, and they definitely did that today," said Yoder. "Those three guys hit great. And even though Jordan didn't have his best stuff today, he gave us four innings of one-run ball and really did a great job working his way out of trouble."
However, the key was Weaver, who stepped into his dream game and gave a clutch performance.
"It went as well as I could have hoped," said Weaver. "You dream about that kind of situation, and dream about coming through for your teammates. It was a lot of fun, and we played really well as a team today. It felt great to be able to contribute."
Published: August 6, 2011
