PREP BASEBALL DIVISION I SECTIONAL FINAL
Brown silences No. 1 T-Bolts' bats
Centerville hurler shuts out Northmont 3-0; Laake's single drives in all three runs.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
KETTERING — Big Brown registered a commanding victory, and we're not talking a galloping colt.
Centerville High School pitcher Andrew Brown silenced the daunting Northmont lineup on six hits and lifted the Elks to a 3-0 sectional final baseball win Friday, May 16, at Fairmont High School.
Extras
The win advances Centerville (19-5) to the next leg — the Division I district final March 22 at the Midland Complex in Amelia.
Top-seeded Northmont has been tormenting pitchers all season as its .408 team batting average and 11 runs per game indicate.
The Thunderbolts (25-4) entered the game on an 11-game winning streak and ranked fourth in the latest state coaches poll.
"They come to the plate swinging at that first pitch," Brown said. "They were hitting my curve early, so I rolled over to my cutter and I was getting a lot of ground balls. Statistically, I've had better games, but this one means more."
Brown provided some damage at the plate in the game-turning fifth inning.
With the game scoreless, Brown led off with a double and later scored on Steven Laake's two-out, three-run single to right field. Laake cleared the bases on a shot to right that Jordan Grilliot just missed, sprawling to the ground.
"I had a 2-0 count and just tried to be aggressive and put it in play," Laake said. "It was a blooper that fortunately dropped."
Brown, a crafty 6-foot-1, 185-pound left-hander, fell into a rhythm the last four innings. His shutout was aided by two defensive gems by slick-fielding shortstop Mike Steinke. Brown improves to 7-0 with a microscopic 0.46 earned-run average and continues to emerge as one of the top pitchers in the Class of 2009.
"We just put too much air under the ball," Northmont coach Chuck Harlow said. "We couldn't get the key hit. Give credit to Brown. He made some adjustments. He has a pretty good pitching coach over there in Terry Dickten (Centerville head coach)."
Northmont pitcher Ian Creager (7-1) deserved a better fate, limiting Centerville to five hits, but they were clutch.
"If I had a group like this every year, I would coach until I'm 90," said a teary-eyed Harlow after a long postgame session with his team behind second base. "They knew how to practice and they genuinely liked each other. I think the world of them, and I hate to see it end for them. We lose 10 special seniors."
The T-Bolts claimed the Greater Western Ohio Conference North Division title at 9-1.
