The Pilot News - Trojans run out of innings

Although the Trojans managed to bring the tying run to the plate in their final at-bat, they never quite recovered from Blackhawk’s eight-run first inning in an offensive-charged 14-12 loss.
“We just needed a couple of more innings and I think we could’ve gotten them,” Doty said. “We just ran out of innings.
“I think it tells a little bit about the character of this team,” he added of the Trojans’ game-long comeback bid. “When it was 8-0 they could have thought, ‘There’s a long way to go; this is going to be a long game.’ Instead, they thought, ‘There’s a long way to go; we have plenty of time to come back.’ But every time we came back, (Blackhawk) had a response.”
The Braves clubbed four home runs, including the first two of the season for left-handed leadoff man Brock Reilley, who went deep to start the game and slugged a two-run shot to put his team up 11-6 in the third. Reilley, who finished 3-for-5 and knocked in five runs, also pounded a two-RBI double in the first and pitched 4 2-3 innings in relief to collect the win.
Reilley, the Braves’ third pitcher of the game, entered to a bases-loaded, one-out jam with his team up 11-7 in the third and the middle of Triton’s order due at the plate. The junior southpaw escaped the mess with a fielder’s choice out at the dish and grounder to second. He also kept Triton off the board in the fourth and fifth.
“(Reilley) led us today,” Blackhawk head coach Mark Harmon said. “He absolutely put us on his back and carried us. We needed somebody to come in and just get outs. He came in and got outs.”
Mitch Baxter and Mitchell Whitman added leadoff solo shots in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively for Blackhawk.
Center fielder Jordan Friesen and Seth Kisler pounded out three hits — including run-scoring singles in the first — for the Braves, who scored in all but two frames.
“I was real glad we came out and scored eight,” Harmon said. “We tell our kids to try to win every inning. We didn’t win every one, but we did keep scoring after the first inning.”
Triton sophomore ace Brett Houlihan struggled on the mound, giving up 11 runs — seven earned — on 11 hits — in 2 2-3 innings.
However, he absolutely murdered Blackhawk pitching, recording at least one hit against all three Braves pitchers. The left-handed batter went 5-for-5 with five RBI. His seventh-inning two-run blast to center field made it a 14-12 game, and his two-run double, also to center, pulled Triton to within two, 8-6, in the second.
“Brett probably didn’t have as good of stuff as he usually does, but in the first inning there were a couple of balls that were hit off the end of the bat, a couple of bloopers, a couple of flares, and when that happens it snowballs and a lot of times affects you at the plate,” Doty said. “He’s a tough kid. He didn’t let that bother him at the plate.”
Following Houlihan’s two-out homer in the seventh, Triton catcher AJ Fleagle reached first on a beanball to bring the tying run to the plate. Reilley, though, got Ellis Edel swinging to end the game.
“I never thought we were out of it,” Doty said. “As long as we were able to keep putting the ball in play, we had a chance. That last out is the toughest out to get. We just ran out of time.”
Triton’s Zac Moriarty chipped in three hits and an RBI to the Trojans’ 15 base-knock attack. Fleagle and second baseman Mitch Mellott contributed a pair of hits apiece, while senior right fielder/relief pitcher Troy McIntyre tripled and scored three times and center fielder Dustin Kreft added an RBI double in the seventh and a 10-pitch bases-loaded walk in the second.
Following the Blackhawks’ eight-run, seven-hit opening frame, Triton fired back with two runs in the first on RBI singles from Houlihan and Fleagle, and four more tallies in the second.
“I give (Triton) a ton of credit,” Harmon said. “It would have been real easy to roll over when they fell behind 8-0, but they got the tying run to the plate. As soon as they brought the tying run to the plate they were one swing away.”
After the Braves tacked on three in the top of the third, McIntyre took a pitch off his body with the bases juiced to bring the score to 11-7.
Trailing 12-7 in the fifth, Triton threatened once again. Ben Montalbano singled, followed by a Mellott double to put runners at second and third with one out. However, Reilley fanned the next two batters to escape.
Triton got back to 13-9 with a pair of runs in the sixth on an RBI groundout from Edel and a Moriarty run-scoring single.
With the season’s end, Triton loses senior starters McIntyre, Mellott and Fleagle, as well as reserves Zachary Hoffer and Kody Senff to graduation.
“We do have a good nucleus coming back next year,” Doty said. “Our seniors gave us great leadership with a lot of character. It’s an intangible trait. Sometimes you have a lot of seniors, but they don’t show the leadership that these seniors did. We’ll miss that desperately next year.”
Triton, which upset Marquette in the sectional semifinal and won the sectional crown in walkoff fashion, finishes 13-16.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Doty said of the tournament run. “To beat Marquette and then lose a six-run lead and come back to win the sectional, I told the guys that’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
• BLACKHAWK CHRISTIAN 14,
TRITON 12
At Bourbon
Class A Regional
Blackhawk: 8 0 3 0 1 1 1 – 14 15 0
Triton: 2 4 1 0 0 2 3 – 12 15 2
Ryan Hartsough, Mitch Baxter (2), Brock Reilley (3, W) and Reilley, Baxter (3); Brett Houlihan (L), Brandon Anthony (3), Troy McIntyre (6) and AJ Fleagle.
2B: Reilley (B), Miles Sudharto (B), Mitch Mellott (T), Dustin Kreft (T), Houlihan (T), Fleagle (T).
3B: Troy McIntyre (T).
HR: Reilley 2 (B), Baxter (B), Mitchell Whiteman (B), Houlihan (T).
Records: Blackhawk 9-14, Triton 13-16 (final).