By Chris Rutz
PBR Ohio Regional Scout

MILFORD, OH -The OHSAA playoffs set up a first round matchup between PBR’s No. 24 ranked team, the Milford Eagles (17-6) and the No.47 ranked Sycamore Aviators (15- 9) at Milford High School.

The Eagles instilled some faith in their underclassman by putting their lanky ‘16 RHP Kyle Ruehlman to face an Aviators line up that was absolutely filled with upper classmen (7 of the 9 starters are class of 2014). Ruehlman rewarded this coaching move by leading the Milford Eagles to a 7-1 victory over the Sycamore Aviators in one of his best outings of the year.

In the top of the first, a lone ’14 Greg Simpson (Mount St. Joseph football commit) single was extinguished by a Ruehlman pickoff.  Simpson had to shake off the failed steal attempt, as the Aviators sent their athletic ace and 3-hole hitter to the mound to face off against the Eagles.

Despite Simpson showcasing a mid 80’s fastball, the Eagles were still able to get to him early. Tiffin commit (ranked no. 29 in his class) ’14 INF Andrew Minton started things with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. That was the first of many self-inflicted errors that plagued the Aviators throughout the day eventually led to Milford runs. After back to back strikeouts by Simpson,( no. 83 prospect in his class) ’15 OF John Malott (pictured below) made that walk hurt by driving a curveball back up the middle and into centerfield. An error by the centerfielder allowed Malott to use his long, gazelle like strides to advance all the way to third eventually scoring on a passed ball.  This ended the first inning with a 2-0 score in favor of the Eagles.  

The second inning breezed by after both pitchers made a 1-2-3 inning out of the bottom of each other’s lineup. Two out walks started and continued to haunt Simpson in the bottom of the third. After striking out the first two batters of the inning, two consecutive walks lead to a ‘16 INF/Pitcher Brad Hall single that easily scored Malott from second base making the score 3-0 Eagles after 3 innings played.

Ruehlman continued to cruise in to the top of the fourth, with only one runner reaching base on a ball that took a wild hop into the hole between the shortstop and third basemen.

Simpson saw more two out trouble develop in the bottom half of the inning. A ’14 1B Ty Helton (West Point commit) single, followed by a ’15 C/OF Tucker Houston pinch hit single, and then an Aviators error allowed another run to score  and advanced the runners to second and third with John Malott (pictured left) coming to the plate once again. And Once again, Malott did not disappoint.  Malott  fought off a Simpson fastball in on his hands and inside outed the pitch down the right field line. He plated both base runners and easily legged out a double, giving himself 3 RBIs on the day. The Eagles had a 6-0 lead going into the 5^th inning.

The game’s pattern continued to repeat itself after another Ruehlman quick 1-2-3 inning followed by the Aviators running into more 2-out trouble.  An error eventually plated the 7^th and final run for the Eagles as they headed into the 6^th with a score of 7-0.  

An up and down 6^th inning for both teams didn’t provide the Aviator faithful with too much hope heading into the 7^th and final inning. The Aviators threatened and then ousted Ruehlman in the top of the 7^th following a walk and an error. The 6’4 sophomore ended his day with an impressive line of 6 1/3 innings pitched, 1 earned run, and 3 hits.  Senior Tristan Lana came in to clean things up for the Eagles getting the last two outs and advancing the Eagles into the next round of the OHSAA playoffs.

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