Southeastern senior Gehrig Cordial, the Ohio Heritage Conference South Division Player of the Year, had the lone hit for the Trojans, who finished the season 18-9.
Simmons pitched a complete game one-hitter, striking out 12 in seven innings. He threw 63 of his 89 pitches for strikes with no walks and faced just 23 batters in the game.
“They put the ball in play and we didn’t,” said Trojans coach Darron Routzahn “(Simmons) wasn’t overpowering, he just had a methodical approach and had a weird arm angle that we had trouble picking up and they took advantage of it.”
Eagles senior Carson Dyer singled to start the third inning and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Will Twiss. Eagles senior Camden Koukal followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Dyer to give Troy Christian a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth inning on a two-RBI single by Dyer. They added another insurance run in the seventh inning.
Cordial singled in the third inning, but the Trojans were unable to put any more runners on base, going 1-2-3 in the final four innings.
Troy Christian (9-15) advanced to face Fort Loramie in a D-IV district final game at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Versailles High School.
A year ago, the Trojans won a district title for the second straight season and fell in a D-IV regional final game to eventual state runner-up Russia. They graduated five seniors from last year’s team and entered this season without senior pitcher Zach McKee due to injury, a first team All-OHC south division player as a junior.
“(The season) far exceeded my expectations,” Routzahn said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the group. They came together as a whole. There were a lot of people who stepped up and played major roles when needed.”
The program will graduate seven seniors from this year’s team — Cordial, McKee, Cole Erskine, Cole Walton, Cody Clark, Tad Griffin and Justin Cornell. It’s also the final season for Routzahn, a Southeastern alum who spent 32 years with the program as either an assistant coach or head coach.
“It’s time for somebody else to come in and give it some fresh blood,” he said. “I’m leaving it in a really good spot. There’s a system in place. The kids understand the game. Hopefully whoever takes over will continue to grow it and reap the reward.”
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