ATHENS — The transformation of South Webster baseball, under head coach Ryan McClintic, has been about doing the so-called little things in all facets of the game, whether it be hitting, pitching, baserunning or fielding.
South Webster arguably outperformed Newark Catholic in all four facets in a Division VII, Region 27 Semifinal matchup.
And they did it by staying true to the process.
Down 2-0 after the opening inning following four Newark Catholic base hits that led to two early runs, South Webster starting pitcher Benaiah Andrews made life difficult, to say the least, for the Green Wave the rest of the way.
The Jeeps responded offensively with clutch hitting and baserunning in the latter innings with a run in the fifth on an error on an attempted double play by Newark Catholic, two runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Pierce Kreischer and a wild pitch, and an important insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single through the left side by Brycin McClintic, resulting in a breakthrough 4-2 triumph for South Webster in a Division VII, Region 27 Semifinal contest that was held at Bob Wren Stadium in Athens.
While the victory may have been surprising for those around the state who don’t follow the South Webster baseball program on a regular basis, it wasn’t in the least for those that do.
“We really do believe in the bend, but don’t break mentality and limiting the damage, but not getting greedy,” McClintic said. “We believe in our opponents earning everything. Baseball’s a funny game. Sometimes, the ball’s going to find space, and sometimes, it’s not. We believe, after the way that we played the last couple of years, that if we continue to do the right things, even in a win-and-advance, lose-or-go-home scenario, continuing to do the right things for seven innings will end up in us liking where we end up. We played the right way the entire time. Our guys can handle the adversity. I’m just proud of our guys for being able to handle things.”
“We know that we can play with anyone,” Andrews said. “We put in the work. We put in the hours before, during and after the season. It feels great. We just thought of it as a big game because it’s the next game.”
Down by a pair of runs after Newark Catholic’s opening inning showcase, one wouldn’t have known it if a scoreboard wasn’t around.
Frustrating Green Wave ace pitcher Owen Przymierski with their ability to work the count, South Webster kept Przymierski on his toes following the opening inning as Newark Catholic’s standout pitcher was visibly frustrated with the Jeeps’ ability to work at-bats and the pitch count as a whole.
“(Przymierski) is an outstanding pitcher,” McClintic said. “He’s got all the accolades. We know that he’s been tough on people all year long. One thing that we know that we can do is how to work pitchers. We really didn’t think that we could run him from the game because he throws so many strikes and he has so many strikeouts. We just tried to foul balls off and work the count into a favorable spot. We had hard contact early that was just right at guys. You get loud outs, even when the result is zeros on the scoreboard, and that gets into a pitcher’s head, thinking that he’s got to do something more.”
South Webster’s crisp defense certainly helped Andrews out as well.
Not allowing more than a sliver of an opening after the two-run first frame, Andrews’ poised pitching was backed up by a South Webster defense that did not falter. The Jeeps, in fact, played crisp baseball throughout, committing just one error compared to the Green Wave’s four on the afternoon. Two great picks in the third inning of play by South Webster freshman first baseman and fellow pitching talent Easton Large highlighted the day.
“It’s great as a defense to know that we can be aggressive and make tough plays, and it doesn’t have to be a perfect throw,” McClintic said. “We’ve got Easton over there that can pick it as good as anybody I’ve ever seen as a freshman. We hang our hat on defense and pitching. We go right at opponents because they work hand-in-hand together. Each of them help the other one. Benaiah being able to be in this game again was big. He’s been in every big game on our schedule. We knew the moment wasn’t going to be too big for him. A lot of guys who get down early like that fold or try to do too much. That kid just trusts the process and the work that he’s put in. He’s maybe the most coachable kid I’ve ever had. You tell pitchers and hitters to keep attacking, keep hitting. Newark Catholic put up two runs and four hits in the first inning, but he kept attacking, and it worked out for him. That was great to see.”
“I know that the defense will make plays,” Andrews said. “The first inning was rough for me with the four hits and two runs. You never want that. But I knew that I just had to keep trusting my stuff, and eventually, things would start falling my way and finding our gloves. If those two runners get on base (in the third inning), there’s no telling what’s going to happen. We could’ve still gotten out of it, but that’s just a scary feeling when someone’s on first with no out. Those were two huge plays. I trust Easton to make those plays.”
Coming closer and closer to cracking the code with each passing half-inning offensively, South Webster eventually got to Przymierski in the top of the fifth inning.
South Webster catcher and eight-hole hitter Sam Murphy got the offense started in the frame with a rock-solid shot back up the middle to center field, and Brayden Barnard reached on a fielder’s choice to put two runners on with nobody on.
The next batter, Hunter Barnard, then grounded to second base for the force at the bag, but the return throw to first was thrown away after a great hustle play at second to break up the double play by brother Brayden, forcing an errant throw that allowed courtesy runner Jaheim Froe to come around and score to cut the Newark Catholic lead to a 2-1 count after five innings complete.
“Our guys get out of the box so hard,” McClintic said. “They don’t pout when they hit a groundball or something. They put their head down and run. When you got athletes that do that, especially a left-handed batter like Hunter, it really speeds up the other team. Even after (Newark Catholic) tried to get the lead runner, everything worked out there.”
The Green Wave were never the same after that.
Back up in the sixth inning, a pair of freshmen struck with lightning to get South Webster on the board. Large, with one gone in the sixth, singled to right field to put a baserunner on for the Jeeps, and Jacob McGraw drew a walk on a full count to put runners on first and second.
That brought freshman Pierce Kreischer up to the plate. Not shy in the least in big moments as evidenced by his go-ahead RBI triple that gave South Webster the lead for good in its 15-9 district final-winning effort over Clay, Kreischer’s RBI single to right field brought in the game-tying run as South Webster knotted the game at two runs apiece.
Moving to third on the play, McGraw then scored on a high and errant throw by Przymierski, as the wild pitch gave the Jeeps the lead heading into the bottom half of the sixth, 3-2.
“The run we had before (in the fifth) was just the tip of the iceberg for us,” McClintic said. “Once we got that across, it put more pressure on them. Pierce had struck out his first two at-bats. They had a meeting on the mound. I talked with him and said, ‘This is your moment.’ You’ve looked rough on the first two at-bats. That actually plays into this for us. We know what you can do. You’re confident. The kid never gets rattled. He’s tough as nails, mentally and physically. We had all the confidence in the world in him. It was a big-time hit by a freshman.”
Back up in the top half of the seventh inning with the score still 3-2 in favor of South Webster, the Jeeps added an important insurance run. Hunter Barnard, who drew a four-pitch walk, stole second and moved to third base on a wild pitch, which set up a one-out RBI single through the left side by McClintic, who didn’t try to do too much with the baseball and simply poked the ball through to score Barnard for an important insurance run.
The Jeeps, as a result, led 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
“That’s been the story of our guys all year,” McClintic said. “These guys come out and they never get rattled when they start off 0-for-2, 0-for-3. They always believe they’ll have an opportunity to get on base in the next at-bat. That’s been the maturation process of our team this year — making in-game adjustments. Brycin, being a senior there, knew that he didn’t have to do too much. He just needed to hit a hard ground ball in the infield. The percentages were in his favor, and that was a huge insurance run. That really came into play there in the bottom of the seventh to help Benaiah and the rest of the guys out with more breathing room.”
“We’re dangerous, one-through-nine,” Andrews said. “We’ve just got to put the ball in play and put it on the ground. Everybody can catch fly balls. If we put it on the ground and put the ball in the gaps, we’re going to like the results.”
Newark Catholic, however, didn’t go away. The Green Wave, through two hit batters and a walk, loaded the bases with two out and had the game-tying run in scoring position. But Andrews worked out of it, getting a flyout to center field to end the game as Newark Catholic wasn’t able to rally back.
With the win, South Webster (20-10) will face Strasburg-Franklin (22-7) Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. in a OHSAA Division VII, Region 27 Championship Game. A win at Ohio University’s Bob Wren Stadium would propel the Jeeps to their first OHSAA State Final Four appearance in program history.
