By: Chris Rutz                                                                                                                                     SW Regional Scout

HAMILTON, OH- After consecutive rainouts, the baseball gods finally allowed for a game to be played and the two teams did not disappoint. Hamilton and No. 9 ranked Cincinnati Elder met Saturday in front of a packed crowd in the second round of the OHSAA playoffs at Hamilton High school in a pitcher’s duel that was worth the price of admission.  A 2-1 walk-off win for Elder High school showcased two talented ’15 RHP’s in Elder’s Shane Smith (ranked No. 42) and Hamilton’s Jarod Morrison (ranked No. 100).

The Hamilton Big Blue's kicked off the scoring in the top of the first by manufacturing a run with some classic small ball.  ’14 OF Jarrod Hall began the game with a leadoff walk after a great 8 pitch battle with Smith. ’16 Ryan Robinson followed with a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to move Hall over to second. Consecutive sacrifice flies by ’15 OF Jake Stewart and Tiffin University commit, 3B John Heckman allowed Hamilton to tally the game’s first run.

This is the lone run that Hamilton was able to produce against Smith and unfortunately for Big Blue they were unable to have another runner reach third base the rest of the day due to Elder’s sharp defense and Smith’s pitching.  

Both Elder and Hamilton’s offensive flow was disrupted by a few great defensive plays in the second and third inning.

Hamilton’s ’15 C Sam Scott showed some impressive defensive skills in the bottom of the second after dropping and blocking a Morrison off speed pitch, recovering, and gunning the runner down at second by a half of a step.

Elder’s ’15 OF Louis Faillace retaliated in the top of the third, when he charged a line drive in the left center field gap and fully extended to rob Hamilton of what would have been their only extra base hit against Smith.

Elder’s bats woke up with two outs in the bottom of the 4^th inning when ’15 C Sam Hauer (ranked No. 11) laced a double to the wall in left center field. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and led to a curve ball that Morrison wishes he could have back after it ricocheted off of ’14 C Drew Paolercio’s helmet and led to Elder’s first run of the game.

After getting into his groove, Smith continued to keep Hamilton off balanced with a great 3- pitch mix and a changeup that seemed to disappear.

Elder would not threaten Morrison again until the bottom of the 6^th when back-to-back singles with no one down gave Coach Mark Thompson the chance to execute a little small ball of their own.

To the dismay of the Elder faithful, two failed bunt attempts and a ’14 LHP Reid Baguely pitching change squashed the Elder threat and took us into the final inning with a 1-1 tie game.

In the top of the 7^th, a  great diving play off of a line drive in the hole by ’14 3B Brian Guck proved to be crucial after a Hamilton single would be all Smith would allow.

Elder came to the plate and started the latter half of the inning with back to back singles by ’14 OF Johnny Lammers and Smith. ’15 SS Kyle Orloff (ranked No. 64)  beat out a fielder’s choice and then stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. An intentional walk loaded the bases for Hauer, and the Elder backstop would not disappoint.

A deep fly ball to right field is all Elder needed and Hauer delivered just that. In walk-off fashion Hauer’s sacrifice fly ended Hamilton’s season and sent Elder into the next round of the OHSAA playoffs to square off against No. 34 Lakota East on Thursday.