By Travis Cox

Central Ohio Scout

Dublin, Ohio-  When the pitching match-up of two of the top 2014 pitchers of Nick Pauley and Nate Green (Oakland commit) was posted, many people expected a low scoring game for the Division I regional semifinal between Thomas Worthington and Hilliard Darby.

After the first inning, the crowd knew it was going to be a high scoring affair. 

Cardinal outfielder Nick Highley would lead off the game with a single. With men on second and third with no outs, Highley would score on a sac fly by Roscoe Blackburn and Keppler would eventually steal home to give the Cards a 2-0 lead.

Darby would quickly respond in the bottom half of the first.  Jake Chetock would lead off with a double.  Chetock and fellow teammate Chris Ramsey (Valpo commit) would soon score to tie the game a 2-2. 

With both pitchers struggling to throw strikes and little defensive support behind them, the pithing dual that everyone was expecting was out the window.  Both teams continued to seesaw back and forth as the leader on the scoreboard.   

Green and Pauley’s pitch counts were adding up fast as score was notched at 13-7 through five inning with Darby in front. 

 

Coach Gussler and his Cards were not finished.  As they were able to tie the game at 13-13 in the top of the sixth inning.   

 

At this point in the game both Darby and Thomas called on their bullpens with Chase Longwell and Blackburn respectively.  Both hurlers were scheduled to pitch in the Regional Finals.   

With Blackburn on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, Chetock would start off with an infield single. Two batters later, Ramsey walked. Then Green delivered the final blow of the game with a double to left-center to score two runs for a 15-13 advantage.   

In the top of the seventh, Longwell would retire all three Cardinal batters he faced with the quickest inning of the game.   

 

Chetock finished the game 4-for-5 with a double and triple while Longwell went 3-for-5 and picked up the win.   

The Cardinals were led by Ben Miller going 3-for-5 with three doubles and three RBI. Highley also contributed two hits and two RBI. 

The Cardinals would finish another fantastic season with a 24-7 record.  Darby improves to 20-10 and will play Gahanna Lincoln today a Dublin Coffman in the Regional Final.   

To view scouting notes from games across Ohio, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week. 

To discuss this game, please visit our partner JJHuddle.