Lions unable to contain Eastern Eagles in district semifinal loss

CHILLICOTHE — Neither the Fairfield Lions nor the Eastern Meigs Eagles recorded a hit through the first three innings, but a couple clutch hits that led to runs by the Eagles, along with the Lions not having a hit until the sixth inning, resulted in Fairfield’s season coming to a close.

The Monday night Division IV SE District Semifinal loss by the Lions saw them hold their opponent to just five hits, but Fairfield — the visitor on the scoreboard — only collected two hits as they lost by a 4-0 score at VA Memorial Stadium.

Fairfield ends the season at 13-7 overall, finishing with a Southern Hills Athletic Conference record of 10-3 for second place in Division II.

“When you look up at the board and the hits totals are Eastern Meigs five and Fairfield two, you think you honestly have a chance, which was the case early on in the game,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “We had runners on first and second with one out, and we didn’t come up with that timely hit, and in return they turned the tables on us and we couldn’t keep the momentum.

“Eastern came up with the big hits, and that’s why they are a No. 1 seed and 25-2. They are a great ball club.”

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Both starting pitchers — Sam Buddelmeyer of Fairfield and Christian Mattox of Eastern Meigs — didn’t allow a hit through the first three innings with the score between the No. 4 seeded Lions and No. 1 seeded Eagles knotted up at zero in those three innings.

For the Lions in the first, it was Cody Gragg reaching the bases on a walk in the second FHS at-bat of the game, drawing the base on balls in four straight pitches. Gragg was left stranded on the bases as Mattox struck out the next batter and ended the inning by forcing a ground out to second base.

Buddelmeyer responded with a nine-pitch first inning (compared to the 15 pitches by Mattox) by forcing a groundout to the shortstop, a strikeout on three straight pitches and a fly ball to centerfield.

Fairfield went three up, three down in the top of the second on 14 pitches, and the same can be said about the Eagles as Buddelmeyer threw just four pitches in the inning, retiring the Eagles with a fly ball to centerfield and two more fly ball outs to right field.

The Lions in the top of the third had one of the toughest at-bats of the game go in their favor with Ethan Grooms (having one out against him) forcing a 10-pitch at-bat before drawing a walk. Grooms began the at-bat with a strike, followed by a ball and then another strike for a 1-2 count. Next, a ball was called, followed by two foul balls, another ball (making it a 3-2 count), two more foul balls and then ball four was called.

Next, Setty took first base on an infield error, but both runners were left standing on the bases as the next two batters were struck out in the 23-pitch inning.

As well as the first two innings went for the Lions, the bottom of the third inning changed the complexion of the game in favor of the Eagles with them taking a two-run lead off a walk by Ryan Harbour, then followed with an inside-the-park home run at VA Memorial Stadium by Mattox, hitting the ball to right-centerfield for the 2-0 advantage. Mattox finished 2-for-3 with a triple, home run and two RBI.

The Lions were retired in order in the fourth, and the Eagles added two more runs in the bottom of the inning for a 4-0 advantage. They opened the inning with a single to left field off the bat of Austin Coleman, sending the ball down the third base line into the outfield. Next was an infield single by Ethan Richmond, sending Coleman to third base. Next, a ground out by Kaleb Hill — on an 0-2 count — pushed the Eagles’ lead to three runs, and a sacrifice bunt by Matthew Blanchard scored Richmond for the four-run advantage.

Fairfield was again retired in order in the top of the fifth, but their defense stood strong as a one-out triple to right field by Eastern’s Mattox didn’t completely round the bases for a run, as the next two batters were retired off a pop up to second baseman Wyatt Willey and a groundout to the shortstop, leaving the runner stranded.

In the sixth inning, the Lions had one base runner as Buddelmeyer gained the first hit of the game for Fairfield, a two-out infield base hit to the shortstop on a 2-2 count and a six-pitch at-bat. Fairfield in the seventh opened with a double to centerfield by Matthew Spears, and he eventually reached third on a groundout by Tanner Collins, but the final out was recorded on a pop up to second base.

Buddelmeyer was charged with the loss, pitching six innings in the district semifinal game. The junior ace allowed four runs (four earned) on five hits and one walk. Buddelmeyer finished with four strikeouts.

“Sam Buddelmeyer did an excellent job on the mound for us. and Andrew Dingey called a great game behind the plate for us,” McGraw said. “Our defense was pretty solid too. We only had one error, and our guys made plays out there. Hitting-wise, it was a struggle. Layne Morgan had a nice rip to right field but unfortunately was thrown out at first, and Matthew Spears had a double in the seventh, and he’s been big for us all year.

“It was just one of those games where you run into the No. 1 seed. I thought we played well and competed with them and gave them everything they wanted.”

Mattox was the winning pitcher for Eastern, pitching seven innings and allowing two hits. In the win, Mattox allowed no runs and just one walk as he totaled eight strikeouts.

The lone senior for the Lions is Cody Gragg, whom McGraw spoke highly of following the game, as he also praised the Lions’ season as a whole.

“We didn’t reach all of our goals this year, but I was proud of our guys, and we had a really good season,” McGraw said. “Our non-conference schedule was pretty brutal, and coming down here there are some pretty good quality ball teams around here. Our guys did a great job all season long, and we have the core of our team coming back.

“Our only senior is Cody Gragg, and he’s going to be very tough to replace. Cody has done a great job for us all year long, and I’m super proud of him. We wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”