Huron captures District title with 10-inning revenge against Airport

CARLETON − Last year, New Boston Huron's baseball team was on a shortlist of favorites to win a state championship.

Things didn't exactly go as planned.

Huron was bounced quickly at the start of the tournament, getting upset in the first round of Districts by Airport.

The pain of that loss turned into quite the motivation.

"You can ask every single one of these guys, as soon as we lost that game, the next day everyone was out there working," junior Connor Grant said. "We've been wanting to get back here for a long time."

Huron well earned its redemption Saturday in a tight, low-scoring battle against Airport. Deadlocked for hours at 1-1, Grant provided the winning hit in the 10th inning for a 4-1 victory over Airport in the Division 2 District championship.

"We've been waiting all year for this," Grant said. "It shows how much we've worked for it. ... We wanted to play and we wanted to win, that's all that matters."

The floodgates opened for Huron in the 10th inning after the team struggled earlier to take advantage of its opportunities. Huron stranded nine runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded without a run in the ninth.

With runners on the corners and one out in the 10th, Grant put down a hard bunt toward first base that drew too many Airport defenders in to make the play. What started as a sacrifice ended with Grant taking first base uncontested and Kyle Kantola coming home to score the go-ahead run.

"I wanted to swing but (my coach) said I had one pitch to swing, but after that it's a bunt," Grant said. "The first pitch was a ball, so I knew what was called and I laid it down and we scored. Then we scored two more after."

Micah Smith followed with a sharp single through the hole to drive in two more runs in the next at bat.

"A lot of these guys were here last year and they knew how bad that stung," Huron coach Phil Yancey said. "They didn't want to let it happen again. They kept fighting and fighting and fighting."

Huron opened the scoring in the second inning as Dayton Miller came home from third on a heads-up play after an errant pick-off attempt by the Jets.

Airport tied the game in the next inning when Jacob VanBuskirk scored on a wild pitch.

It stayed locked at 1-1 until the 10th.

"We just kept pushing," Yancey said. "Every inning we kept grinding it out, getting guys in scoring position and not capitalizing. Finally we knew the momentum would have to go our way."

Grant and Ashton Warren each had a pair of hits to lead Huron. Kantola, Smith, Nathaniel Morse, and Myles Grace added one hit apiece.

Kantola was the winning pitcher after taking over in the eighth and Gavin O'Hara earned the save in the 10th. Luke Coll started the game, allowing one run on two hits and four walks while striking out eight in six innings.

Gavin Moczydlowski got three outs in relief in the seventh after pitching a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts to help Huron defeat Flat Rock 3-0 in the District semifinals earlier in the day.

Huron (23-7) advances to the Regional semifinals against Riverview at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Trenton.

Airport had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs. A hard grounder took a huge skip into the air creating a close play on the runner at third who was called out.

Colin Nowak, Tyler Lakatos, Nolan Zajac, and Cooper Nye each had a hit for Airport. Jordan Footlander pitched five innings to start the game before leaving with an injury. Footlander gave up four hits and a walk and struck out one. Sean Langton was strong in relief.

The Jets finished the season 30-5 and shared the Huron League title with Huron. A big graduating class includes Tyler Lakatos, Jordan Footlander, Jacob VanBuskirk, Shade Daniels, Nathan Depew, Corey Ferris, Drew VanWasshenova, and Kyle Harvell.

"I've been coaching here for nine years and I've never had a Division I player ever, so to go 30-5 is quite the accomplishment," Airport coach John VanWasshenova said. "It says a lot about how we play the game and how we keep pushing all the way to the end. Even a good team like (Huron), to push them to the limit every time says a lot about our kids and our program."

Airport defeated Jefferson 13-0 in the District semifinal earlier in the day.

"It was a microcosm of the whole season," Jefferson coach Tyler Bondy said. "We went in hoping to play a nice, seven-inning game and put together our best effort of the year, but that didn't happen. ... Obviously not the outcome we were hoping for."

Shane Johnson had the only two hits for Jefferson. He leads a group of four graduating seniors along with Jase Johns, Gavin Congioloso, and Seth Minney. The Bears finished the season 8-28-1.

"We started four or five freshmen every game, so we're pretty young," Bondy said. "It's good experience for those guys. They got a lot of action in a District game, so it's hopefully a boost for them and we can lean on that in the next few years."

Flat Rock did not have a hit in its semifinal against Huron, but Adam Szalay pitched well for the Rams. Seniors Joey Godfrey, Corey Lannon, and Ben Elliott helped Flat Rock take a big step forward this year. The team finished the season 13-13.

"It was the first time in a decade that Flat Rock baseball finished a season with a .500 record," Flat Rock coach Josh Godfrey said. "The goal this year was progression and improvement overall in the program, and I think we achieved that. We achieved the first step to being a better program."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Huron baseball gets revenge on Airport with 10-inning thriller for District title