Bishop Watterson survives Watkins Memorial’s upset bid in stunning fashion

LANCASTER — An emotional Donald Schone did not mince words Tuesday. His Watkins Memorial baseball team felt an all too familiar feeling.

The No. 14 Warriors took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning at No. 2 Bishop Watterson. The Eagles, however, loaded the bases with one out, and Chance Strausbaugh lined a three-run double down the right-field line to allow the Eagles to escape with a 3-2 victory in a Division I district semifinal and set up a showdown with No. 3 Grove City in Thursday’s final.

“It just sucks,” Schone said through a few tears. “We played well. They just had a key hit, and that’s life. ... The kids do a very good job. That’s why it hurts so bad because they worked so hard. Every team does, too. You just don’t want it to end. I love the kids. When I am done loving kids, I will be done.”

It was the fourth consecutive season Watkins (21-7) has lost in the semifinal round. The Warriors also lost a seventh-inning lead in 2021 to eventual state champion New Albany.

Watkins had played near flawlessly for 6½ innings. Senior ace right-hander Trace Hartman had allowed three hits, and the defense had cut down three Eagles (23-2) on the bases.

“We had a good run. Bishop Watterson had a great hit in the last inning,” said Watkins senior shortstop Ethan Ryan, who doubled and scored the first run on junior Chase Massie’s groundout in the third inning. “We played better the whole game, but they came up with the win.”

The lead was still a single run when in the bottom of the sixth Ryan smoothly made a play at short to strand the potential tying run at third. Watkins then bumped it to 2-0 in the top of the seventh with the help of three walks before junior Braiden Bates’ slow bouncer to third was fumbled.

Watterson loaded the bases on a hit batter, an infield hit and a hit through the left side by Brandon Trout. Strausbaugh followed with a line drive that just got above the glove of senior first baseman Sam Johnson, and the hit cleared the bases when the ball got all the way to the right-field corner.

“The game is cruel,” Schone said. “The kid came up big. If Sammy jumps a little higher, he’s out, and it’s a double play. We’re celebrating, and they’re not happy.”

Returning just seniors Hartman, Johnson, Ryan and Michael Olson, who was lost to injury during the season’s first week, from the 2022 starting lineup, Watkins faced uncertainty. The Warriors, however, took the challenge head on, going perfect in Licking County League play, winning the Buckeye Division for the third consecutive season.

The Warriors used their depth all season thanks to a senior class willing to serve in a variety of roles, including Ethan Pollock and Travis Harrison on the mound in the rotation behind Hartman. Logan Fitch, who had two hits earlier in the season off Grove City ace left-hander Keegan Holmstrom, drew a pinch-hit walk on Tuesday while classmate Tyler Fuchs served as a pinch-runner in the seventh inning and Logan Britton earned time in the outfield during the season.

“I saw a bunch of improvement from everyone on the team and a brotherhood from the sophomores to the seniors," Ryan said. "Everyone would do anything for each other. The coaching really bonds, and it makes us unstoppable.”

Junior Cole Massie reached base three times on a hit and two walks. Classmate A.J. Langwasser also had a hit for the Warriors, who had only three hits but worked seven walks against an outstanding Watterson staff.

Hartman was in trouble in the early innings, but he picked off a runner in the first. Bates threw another runner out at the plate to the end the first, and junior catcher Andrew Botts caught a runner stealing.

Watkins was hoping to reach its first district final since 2015. The Warriors instead will get back to work with an eye already toward next May.

“I don’t know that there’s a lot of people that expected us to get this far anyways,” Schone said. "I don’t know why I love the game so much, but I do. It just makes you stronger and makes people hungrier.”

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @newark_sports

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Bishop Watterson baseball survives Watkins Memorial’s upset bid