New Philadelphia baseball powers past Zanesville in district semifinal
· Yahoo Sports
NEW PHILADELPHIA – When New Philadelphia’s baseball season started, it had goals of winning the Ohio Cardinal Conference, districts, regionals and in the end, be the last team standing.
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On May 26, the Quakers were able to get one step closer to accomplishing these goals after taking down Zanesville 7-2 in the district semifinals.
“I’m just proud of the way we competed today,” head coach Tyler Weisel said. “This team is special, and we’re never out of a game.”
New Phila found itself trailing 2-0 after the Blue Devils smacked an RBI single by Maddox Mohler in the second inning and then an RBI single in the third by Mahki Murray.
Zanesville accomplished its goal of getting out to an early lead and setting the pace for the game.
“We thought that they (New Philadelphia) had not been in many one-score games,” Zanesville head coach Jason Smith said. “We’ve been in those situations all season, so it was something we were familiar with.”
Smith felt his team was able to maintain momentum for the first three innings.
“We felt like we had them on their heels,” he said. “We were forcing a lot of pop ups, and they were kind of over swinging.”
The momentum changed dugouts once New Philadelphia’s Tanner Ulmer stepped in the box in the fourth inning after a leadoff double by Brady Evans.
After two failed bunt attempts, Ulmer was forced to swing the bat.
With a 2-2 count, Ulmer launched a ball to left field for his first home run of the season, and the Quakers took a 3-2 lead.
“That was something that completely shifted the entire stadium,” Weisel said. “It was a packed house tonight, and he changed the mood for everyone on our side.”
The message to his team before the home run: I’m not panicking, so you don’t need to panic.
“Let’s just do one thing at a time,” he said. “We got plenty of outs to get back to our style of baseball.”
After three quick outs in the fifth, the New Phila offense got back to work, opening the inning with a single, two walks, two runs scored on a passed balls and then an Evans two-run home run to extend the lead to 7-2.
“We had them where we wanted,” Smith said. “Then they were able to string together big hits, and now they’re moving on to the next round.”
Maintaining momentum can be difficult throughout a game, Smith said.
“Anytime you’re playing an explosive offense, momentum is hard to keep going,” he said. “We talked to our guys all week that we have to be dialed in every single pitch.”
Owen Courtney started the game on the mound for the Quakers, tossing seven innings, striking out seven batters and surrendering nine hits.
“He won a district title game as a freshman. Nothing shakes him,” Weisel said. “He’s been through and seen everything. We just let him go about his business.”
The top six hitters in New Phila’s lineup all scored one or more runs, and as a team, the Quakers stole eight bases.
“We always want to get runners on and cause chaos on the base paths,” Weisel said.
As one season moves on, another comes to an end. Smith's message to his Blue Devils centered around how proud he his.
“This senior class has helped Zanesville baseball turn the corner,” he said. “Three years ago, we finished with three wins. They’ve done a great job showing up every day with a great attitude.”
This season, Zanesville finished 12-15 and captured a sectional championship with a 4-3 victory over Dover.
“Nobody expected us to win last week,” Smith said. “They believed in each other, and we were hoping to do the same today but came up short.”
With the victory, New Phila will now play for a district championship, taking on Dresden Tri-Valley on May 28 at 5 p.m. The game will be played at Hiland.
Tri-Valley took down No. 1 seed Indian Creek 3-1 to advance to the championship game and holds a 17-12 record on the season.
“Now it starts with us getting back on the field and practice,” Weisel said. “We have to start fast and play our style of baseball, by getting runners on because when we do that, we can be hard to beat.”
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This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: New Philadelphia baseball defeats Zanesville in district semifinal