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Fort Loramie makes return trip to state

Friday, 30 May 2008

By Tim Langevin

HUBER HEIGHTS — Fort Loramie ace pitcher Andy Long defies description.

The senior southpaw, making his second start in as many days, bended and bended, but never broke, pitching the complete game in the process, as the Redskins nipped Delphos Jefferson 7-6 in the Division IV regional championship game at Wayne High School Friday.

Fort Loramie improves to 21-11 and will make an encore appearance in the state semifinals Friday against 25-2 Patrick Henry at Cooper Stadium in Columbus. Game time will be 4 p.m.

It was vintage Long. The 6-foot-3 hurler didn’t overpower the batters. He allowed his fair share of base hits, including two home runs, but when crunch time arrived, he delivered.

In a game in which Long threw 117 pitches, it only took four to retire the Wildcats’ top of the order in the pivotal sixth inning.

Loramie coach Bill Sturwold can attest, “Andy Long is the best big game pitcher. He was the key to the game in the sixth. We just took the lead and Andy got ‘em out in order in about three to four pitches.”

Long said, “In between innings D (catcher Derek Coverstone) told me to quit aiming. Just throw it. That helped. That and my outfielders.” He added, “This feels just as good as last year.”

This game was a see-saw battle. The only constant was a 20-25 mph wind blowing out to left field.

It was a shaky start for Long as Josh Miller blasted a two-run homer to left field to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Fort Loramie responded with three runs in the bottom half of the second inning to grab a 3-2 margin.

Jake Boerger beat out an infield hit and Mitch Boerger reached first base on an error. Andy Shieltz followed with a hard hit single to right field, scoring both Boergers. Tregg Barga singled, scoring Shieltz.

Shieltz hit the ball hard the entire game, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs.

The Wildcats tied the game at 3-3 with a home run by Aaron Schuerman in the top of the third.

The Redskins fought back in the bottom of the third with one run to forge ahead 4-3. Jay Schulze ripped a leadoff double to deep center field and Long helped his cause with a bloop single to score him.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Delphos Jefferson added three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a crucial 6-4 lead with innings running out.

Like all season, Fort Loramie refused to lose, this time manufacturing three runs on just one hit, a single by Shields. And just like Thursday’s game against Franklin-Monroe, the opposing pitcher crumbled. Reliever Mike Rahrig walked four batters, hit one batter, and threw three wild pitches. When the inning ended, the Redskins jumped on top 7-6.

Long took care of business the final two innings, retiring six batters, including five in a row, to collect his 10th victory of the season.

“We are very fortunate. Anything can happen. There is so much luck involved,” coach Sturwold confessed. “We played solid baseball and Andy was much sharper today. We didn’t have Andy warm up before the game as much today. That was my mistake yesterday.”

Grand slam hero Thursday, Tregg Barga said, “We’ve had our up and down moments, but we always do what we have to do to win. It’s great to be heading back to the Coop (Cooper Stadium).”

Coverstone added, “It feels good. The key is to stay relaxed and keep playing. Hopefully we can win another state title.”

And so the superstitious trend of wearing black jerseys continues. And why not? The Redskins improve to 12-0 in tournament play the past two seasons. Back-to-back state titles remains to be seen. But one thing is definite, the Fort Loramie Redskins will not be wearing their red jerseys Friday.

The linescore:

R H E

Delphos Jefferson 201 030 0_6 13 3

Fort Loramie 031 030 x_7 9 1

Miller, Joseph (3), Rahrig (5) (LP), Carter (5) and Kraning; Long and Coverstone.

Records: Fort Loramie 21-11, Delphos Jefferson 19-6.

Next game: Friday, D-IV state semifinals in Columbus vs. Hamler Patrick Henry, 4 p.m.