LAST CHANCE HEROICS BRING HOME A TROPHY TO WEST BRANCH
By Matt Maher
AKRON, OH – Victory, sweet victory! The West Branch Warriors are State Champions after defeating power house, Bodin, in the state finals on Sunday morning by a final score of 3-2.
West Branch was led by pitcher Anthony Perrywho allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks! The Rams proved to be as tough as advertised but Perry found it within himself to limit their chances and keep his team in the ballgame through a full 7 inning performance!
The Warriors had their struggles against the Rams pitcher, Beau Chaney, but found themselves with runners in scoring position even before they earned their first hit in the 6th inning. The Warriors first big chance came in the 3rd where they had the bases loaded thanks to a walk and 2 batters who were hit by a pitch. While the chance was there the Warriors couldn’t get past Chaney but that gave them even more momentum to score.
West Branch found themselves down by 2 runs in the 6th inning and still with no hits. After Hunter Shields was hit by a pitch with 1 away, Beau Alazaus stepped in and found his team’s first base hit into left field! While the hit was great, Shield over ran 2nd and was tagged out. The Warriors would stay off the board but Badin was waking up a sleeping beast and it was ready to burst in the 7th.
After inning after inning of coming so close but being rejected by Chaney, The Rams decided to enter Tyler Verdin to close out the game in the 7th. Charlie Biskup led off the inning with an infield single and was followed by a walk to Jaxon Robb. With 1 out and 2 on board, Boston Mulinix stepped up and hit what looked like a routine ground ball to 2nd. With it looking clear the rams were going to get the out, the ball decided to curve away from Buckle at 2nd and as. A result the ball got away and the first run came across. Aaron Tucker stepped up and hit a grounder to 2nd where they threw him out but the tying run came across to score while the fielder dealt with Tucker. With now 2 out but a runner at 3rd base, Verdin threw a wild pitch past his catcher and Mulinix came home and gave West Branch their lead!
The Rams tried their best to tie the game in the 7th and even got a runner in scoring position with a 2 out double but Perry was too good and locked in and was able to retire the side on a pop out to his first baseman Aaron Tucker and secure the trophy for West Branch.
The game was close and the competition was fierce but West Branch played true to their Warriors nickname and fought to the very end and not only won the tilt but upset the top ranked team in division 2 who, up until this game, had not conceded a single run in this tournament! The win was huge for a magnitude of reasons, all of which don’t truly matter, what does is that West Branch just won the OHSAA Division II State Championship! Congratulations to the Warriors on an unforgettable season and even better tournament!
