“We put a complete game together from the pitching to the fielding to the hitting,” said Trojans coach Darron Routzhan. “We didn’t have any errors and no baserunning gaffes.”
Southeastern (14-9) advanced to face Bradford (21-10) in a D-IV regional semifinal game at 2 p.m. Thursday at Carleton Davidson Stadium in Springfield. The Railroaders advanced with an 11-8 victory over Troy Christian.
The winner will play either Russia or Sugar Grove Berne Union at 2 p.m. Friday, June 2, at Wright State University for a trip to the D-IV state semifinals. All tickets must be purchased online at OHSAA.org.
Southeastern senior Austin Miller had a double and four RBIs, while McKee went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Aiden Harbage went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Junior Gehrig Cordial had three RBIs and sophomore Jacob Alderson and junior Cole Walton each added two RBIs.
Southeastern took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by McKee in the first inning.
The Trojans exploded for eight runs on five hits in the second inning, bringing 12 batters to the plate to extend their lead to 9-0.
After a scoreless third inning, the Trojans scored seven more runs on four hits to make it 16-0.
“We had two big consistent innings to put it away,” Routzhan said.
McKee struck out eight batters in the game with no walks, attacking hitters throughout the game.
“We talked before the game and he was going to go at them, show his dominance and go from there,” Routzhan said. “He didn’t really have to make any adjustments from the beginning.”
Trojans senior third baseman Kason Spears made several crucial plays in the game, Routzhan said.
“He displayed some key plays for us with his glove,” Routzhan said. “It was awesome.”
The Trojans will be back in postseason action at Carleton Davidson Stadium for the first time since 2012.
“It meant a lot to us,” Routzhan said. “It felt like there was a hometown crowd there, they were really behind us and it’s going to be good to play on that stage again.”
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