FREDERICKTOWN — Championship teams have a way of figuring things out.
They have a way of staying patient and keeping their composure, even when the chips are down. They have a way of responding – and pulling through – when it matters most.
Fredericktown did just that on Monday.
The Freddies trailed 1-0 in the waning moments of a Division III district semifinal matchup against Worthington Christian. They had yet to record a hit against the Warriors’ starting pitcher, Brandon Hale, heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
“He just mixed his pitches up and our guys were just out in front, just couldn’t barrel anything up. And it seemed like everything we hit, they were positioned perfectly on defense,” Fredericktown head coach Ryan Hathaway recalled. “It was kind of scary going into that inning.”
The Freddies were frustrated, angered, even baffled at times. But they weren’t done fighting.
Over the course of the game, they’d begun to wear down Worthington Christian’s ace, extending at-bats with foul balls and patience. And in the sixth inning, this persistence paid off.
Hale grew tired, his pitch count nearing 80, and he walked the first batter of the inning – Fredericktown junior Brady Lester.
This led Worthington Christian head coach Tim Kraynak to pull his starter and bring in Connor Hendrickson, a hard-throwing right-hander who began the game at shortstop.
His style differed greatly from Hale, who relied heavily on offspeed pitches around the plate. And he was new to the game – thrust into a situation where he’d face the heart of Fredericktown’s batting order, with a runner on first and no outs.
The Freddies saw their opportunity and ran with it.
Junior Kaid Carpenter singled to center field, sending Lester to third on hard base-running. Then, two batters later, junior Jaxen Doup broke the game wide open, rocketing a pitch to left field that scored Lester and tied the game at 1.
Junior Luke Bean singled to left field next, loading the bases. Then, two batters later, following a force out at home plate, junior Xavier Mullins made the Warriors pay once again.
Mullins drew a walk – on a 3-2 count, with the bases loaded and two outs – scoring senior Trevor Jobes from third and giving Fredericktown a 2-1 lead.
Junior Daichi Yamazaki added to the margin moments later. He smashed a line-drive single to right-center field, scoring runners from second and third and making it 4-1 Fredericktown.
“Honestly, I’ve been doing bad. I had been hitting pop flies every time. … I was kind of down on myself,” Yamazaki said. “(But) I got myself back.”
Yamazaki got down in the count early, but never wavered. He choked up on the bat, stood tall in the box and delivered the game’s biggest hit – something he said he knew he was capable of, despite his recent struggles.
“We had a chance,” Yamazaki explained. “There were full bases and (it was) a pretty tough situation, but you’ve just gotta be confident in yourself.”
Yamazaki’s two-run single ended up proving crucial for Fredericktown.
Worthington Christian loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh, forcing Hathaway to replace Carpenter, the team’s starting pitcher, with Bean.
Hale smacked a line-drive single to deep center field moments later, scoring runners from second and third and narrowing the margin to 4-3. The Warriors’ seven-hole batter, Hendrickson, then stepped to the plate with two outs and the tying run on third.
But he lined out to left field. And as soon as Lester caught the missile, signaling the game’s final out, the celebration was on.
Fredericktown had punched its ticket to the district title game.
“We just kept saying, ‘Let’s try to find a way. Try to find a way. Just get a couple good at-bats together,'” Hathaway recalled, when asked about the team’s mindset going into the bottom of the sixth.
“They’ve done that all season. That’s the good thing about these guys, is they’re not gonna quit.” So we knew when we got the top of the lineup back up that we might have a chance. And luckily, we got some guys on-base and a couple pitches went our way at the plate – a couple close pitches that probably could’ve went either way, honestly.”
The Freddies tallied four runs on just two hits Monday. They walked five times and struck out four.
But in the end, it was enough.
That’s due in large part to the team’s defensive performance. Carpenter threw 6 and 2/3 innings, surrendering three runs on five hits, while striking out 10 batters and walking four. He threw 120 pitches in the effort.
Carpenter worked out of two bases-loaded jams – one in the fourth inning, where he allowed just one run (on a Hendrickson walk), and one in the fifth inning, where he held the Warriors scoreless, despite facing the situation with no outs.
“We knew they were gonna hit hard, and (Carpenter) was gonna be the guy that we had to throw tonight because they were gonna barrel a lot of stuff up, which they did. They’re a good fastball-hitting team,” Hathaway said.
“I thought he did a good job of just mixing his pitches as he went on. He got outs. I thought the biggest play was when they had the bases loaded with nobody out and he ends up working out of it, gets a couple infield pop-ups. You know, if they get a couple scores right there, it’s probably a different game going into the sixth.
“He just did what he’s done all season and just was a bulldog.”
The Freddies, seeded second in the Division III Central District, will face fourth-seeded Amanda-Clearcreek in the district championship game on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Olentangy Orange High School.
The Aces knocked off third-seeded Centerburg in the district semifinals on Monday, 7-4, behind a storybook late-game comeback.
Fredericktown beat Amanda-Clearcreek in last year’s district title game, 4-3, on a walk-off hit from Mullins in the bottom of the seventh. It marked the Freddies’ fourth straight district championship.
Hathaway said Fredericktown shouldn’t expect number five to come any easier.
“We’ve just gotta be perfect, honestly. Gotta play defense. Can’t give up any errors. Gotta try to get guys on-base, sneak some hits in here and there. … (We’ve) just gotta roll the dice and see what we can do,” Hathaway said.
“I mean, they’re gonna be a really solid team. And beating them last year, on our home field, in the district tournament – I know they have a lot of seniors back, and they probably are really foaming at the mouth, trying to get to this game. So I’m assuming it’s gonna be a fight.
“It’ll be fun. We’ll roll it out and see what happens.”
