ANTWERP - Antwerp was two outs away from the end of the season.
But
Reid Lichty kept the Archers postseason dreams alive with a two-run
single in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving Antwerp a 2-1 victory
over Hicksville in Division IV sectional championship action on
Thursday.
“It had the feel of the end of the 2019 regional finals,
though it wasn’t something quite as big,” Antwerp head coach Zac Feasby
said in reference to an extra-inning win over Kalida that sent the
Archers to the state semifinals. “The top of our lineup struggled all
night so it was left up to the bottom. It was nice to see the younger
guys come through.”
Hitless through six against Hicksville
right-hander Jackson Bergman, freshman Aiden Lichty opened the Antwerp
bottom of the seventh with a hit-by-pitch on a 1-2 count.
“We
talked about bunting,” Feasby said of his discussion with the Antwerp
six-hole hitter prior to his at-bat. “At the end of our conversation I
just said ‘any way on.’”
Carson Altimus then hit a bunt to third
that bounced over the head of Zackery Thatcher moving Lichty to second
and Altimus to first with the initial hit of the game for the Archers.
Eli Reinhart then executed a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and
third with Reid Lichty coming to the plate.
“I was a little
nervous heading into the at-bat, but I’ve been working hard and I crave
opportunities like that to come through for the team,” the Antwerp
sophomore explained.
After two balls, Lichty fouled off a pitch before a swing and miss put the count at 2-2.
“With
two strikes I knew I had to shorten up my swing and just put one in
play,” reflected Lichty, who promptly singled up the middle to bring in
Aiden Lichty and Altimus, sending the Archers to districts for the
fourth season in a row.
“I made sure to get my foot down on time
and just put one in play and it found a hole through the middle,” Lichty
said. “ I was on cloud nine after that because it’s what every kid
dreams of growing up playing baseball.”
Feasby was ecstatic to have his number nine batter come through.
“We
talked to the guys about the situation with two strikes and to try to
at least put it in play,” Feasby said. “He hit it up the middle and got
it past the shortstop. I’m glad Carson’s fast. He had the jets on and
made it to the plate.”
The two-run inning brought an end to a
pitching duel between Bergman and Luke Krouse. While the Hicksville
senior did not permit a hit until the seventh, Krouse was magnificent
for Antwerp allowing just four hits, two in the second when the Aces
scored on a Bergman one-out single, a walk to Mavrik Keesbury and a
David Taylor RBI single. The Antwerp southpaw got out of the frame with a
pair of strikeouts en route to 12 on the day.
“We would not have
been in that situation in the bottom of the seventh without Luke
pitching the way he did,” Feasby said. “His performance gave us that
opportunity.
“He’s just been on,” the Antwerp coach said of the
Green Meadows Conference Player of the Year who is committed to Bowling
Green. “He went through some arm soreness earlier in the year but since
he's been back it’s been Luke Krouse at his best. He’s getting ahead in
counts so he can control at-bats. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.
He’s fun to watch.”
Bergman, a Toledo commit who could match up
with Krouse in the Mid-American Conference at the next level, was
masterful in defeat.
“He hasn’t thrown a bunch of innings but I
had a feeling coming in he’d be tough on us,” Feasby said of Bergman.
“He’s always pitched well against us. We had a plan with being selective
and making him work, but he seemed to settle in. Most of the time he
got on top early. We didn’t have a lot of solid hits against him.”
The hard-throwing right-hander struck out seven and allowed four walks to go along with the one big hit-by-pitch.
“Luke
was on and Bergman was on,” Feasby noted. “Obviously there wasn’t a lot
of offense. They scored early and Bergman kept pitching well.
Thankfully Aiden got on and Carson had a heck of a bunt and Eli’s bunt
was big. Then Reid got the big hit.
“We’ve battled at times this
year with guys getting down on themselves a lot,” continued Feasby,
whose Archers are now 15-5 on the season. “It’s turned into
disagreements and we’ve addressed that. Tonight everybody stayed
positive. We made things happen and executed at the end of the game.”
Antwerp,
the seventh-rated team in the state in Division IV by Prep Baseball
Report, will now face Edon on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the district
semifinals at Bryan. Wayne Trace and Ayersville collide in the 4 p.m.
opener with the two survivors meeting at 5 p.m. Friday for a berth in
the regionals.
Linescore
Hicksville 010 000 0 - 1 4 2
Antwerp 000 000 2 - 2 2 0
Records: Antwerp 15-5, Hicksville 8-11.
Winning pitcher: Luke Krouse (7 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 12 strikeouts, 1 walk).
Losing pitcher: Jackson Bergman (6.1 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts, 4 walks).
Leading
hitters: (Hicksville) - Broy Balser double; Aaron Klima single; Jackson
Bergman single; David Taylor single. (Antwerp) - Carson Altimus single;
Reid Lichty single.