Heralds bow out of tournament with in district final loss to Falcons
May 24—PARMA — On Tuesday, nearly everything went right for the Saint John Heralds to earn a spot in the Division IV district final baseball game against Jeromesville Hillsdale.
On Thursday, nearly everything went wrong, as the Falcons jumped on the scoreboard early, en route to 16-1 five-inning on the campus of Tri-C in the championship game.
Saint John (16-6) got on the scoreboard first inning.
Anthony Severino hit a single to bring in the lone run of the game for the Heralds.
Saint John coach Alvin Rodriquez said nearly everything went wrong on Thursday.
Numerous infield hits allowed Hillsdale batters to reach first base, several wild pitches went to the backstop and hits narrowly making it by the gloves of diving infielders all contributed to the loss.
He said all the mistakes made it difficult to compete.
"When you are at this level, you can't make those mistakes," he said.
After St. John's original 1-0 lead Hillsdale took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning with an error and a couple of hits.
Hillsdale aded two more runs in the bottom of the second on two infield hits and a seeing-eye hit up the middle just beyond the diving Will Anderson.
The Heralds got out of the third inning without giving up anymore runs, but the floodgates opened in the fourth inning.
Hillsdale scored 11 runs, taking advantage of an infield hit and well-timed hits.
In the top of the fifth inning, Anderson singled with one out.
But a line drive to the shortstop, who caught the ball and fired to first base to double off Anderson to end the game.
After the game, the Heralds received the Division IV runner-up trophy and individual medals for each player before gathering for team pictures in the outfield.
Aaron Wychock pitched three innings and took the loss. He gave up nine earned runs, 10 hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Hillsdale pounded out 14 hits, led by Brock Bower with three, to go with four RBIs. Gavin Casdorph pitched all five innings for the win.
Rodriguez said it was hard to lose because it was the last game for seniors Bryson Vennetti and A.J. Henslee.
Henslee batted over .300 all year, while Vennetti was been a timely hitter and a leader for his squad. The pair were the first two players to go through four years with Rodriguez.
He said it was a great run for his team, but he is tired of being the bridesmaid instead of the bride.
The Heralds were district runner-up in 2022 and lost in a district semifinal last year.
Rodriquez said the team is in a good place heading into next season as only the two seniors graduate.
He added he hopes the team holds on to the bad feeling of losing and uses it to motivate themselves heading into the 2025 season.
