Lions moving to district semifinals; win sectional crown
LEESBURG — The final inning for the Fairfield Lions was a bit nail-biting, but behind the pitching of Sam Buddelmeyer and the defense of the Lions, they were able to fend off the Dawson-Bryant (Coal Grove) Hornets, 5-3 for a sectional championship and a spot in the district round.
Fairfield — a No. 4 seed in the Division IV SE District — won their sectional final game Tuesday night over No. 5 seeded Dawson-Bryant (Coal Grove) with a mix of pitching for their junior ace, but they also had clutch two-out hitting, leading to most of their runs scored.
Though the Lions (13-6) totaled seven hits in the victory, they didn’t gain their first hit until their 12th trip to the plate when Buddelmeyer hit a two-out single, but was left stranded on the bases in the ensuing at-bat. In the first three innings, the Lions were retired in order, and within those first 12 at-bats they struck out four times, grounded out five times and hit fly ball outs twice.
Though the bats struggled in those first four innings — and the Lions trailed by a 1-0 score — Fairfield wasn’t finished by a long shot, eventually adjusting at the plate and taking the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“Sam did a heck of a job on the mound for us, and offensively the first time through the lineup we struggled, but the second time through I thought we did an excellent job of making adjustments,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “The bottom half of the lineup was unbelievable when we needed them the most, and they came up huge for us. We are proud of them."
Fairfield began their half of the fifth with a ground out, but the next at-bat saw a single by Layne Morgan, followed with hits by Griffin Irvin and Ethan Grooms. Wyatt Willey took first on a fielder’s choice. Morgan, Willey and Grooms all scored runs for the 3-1 lead in favor of the Lions.
The Lions weren’t finished with two runs crossing the plate on the bottom of the sixth as Andrew Dingey and Matthew Spears scored runs.
“That’s huge,” McGraw said of Fairfield’s two-out hitting on Tuesday. “We’ve been talking all season long about finding a way to get the ball in play and see what happens. These kids battle, and you have to give them all the credit in the world because Coal Grove is a good ball team. It was a good win for our guys. One of our goals was a sectional championship, and now we get a chance to play in the districts.”
Then there was the pitching by Buddelmeyer, as he pitched a complete seven-inning game for the win. The junior allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits and four walks. Buddelmeyer struck out 10 in the sectional semifinal win.
“Sam is a junior, and he’s played a lot of baseball and we are going to go with him,” McGraw said. “We have all the faith in the world in him. (In the seventh) Sam buckled down and got the job done.”
Dawson-Bryant (Coal Grove) scored one run in the third, then made things very interesting in the top of the seventh by scoring two runs, but the Lions worked out of the situation and swatted away the Hornets to seal the win.
Next for the Lions in the district semifinals are the No. 1 seeded Eastern Meigs Eagles, as they will play at VA Memorial Stadium on Monday, May 14 at 5 p.m. in Chillicothe. Eastern Meigs defeated Federal Hocking, 11-0 in five innings on Tuesday.
“We are going to have to be ready, and when you get to districts, you face good ball clubs,” McGraw said. “We’ll have to make adjustments the first time through the lineup, especially when we are pitching that well. It will be exciting for our guys, and this gives us some momentum going forward.”