Strasburg rallies back to advance to regional finals, Bobcats tournament run comes to end

ATHENS — No one likes to see snow in June.

Especially Dave Shoupe and his Green Bobcats.

Costly mistakes in the field snowballed one after another for the Bobcats as they couldn't hold onto their lead and ultimately fell to the Strasburg-Franklin Tigers 12-8 in the Ohio Division 7 regional semifinals at Ohio University on Wednesday evening.

"We just didn't get it done defensively. We built up a nice lead there in the second and just couldn't hold onto it," said Bobcats coach Dave Shoupe.

"We made too many mistakes in the field and hit too many batters to give them extra runners and that led to big innings."

Green finishes the season with an overall record 22-5. The Tigers improve to 22-7 and will now face the South Webster Jeeps in the regional title game on Thursday.

The Tigers got huge games at the plate from Brodie Hurst and Brody Baughman to lead the offense. Hurst went 3-for-5 with a triple and five RBI and Baughman went 3-4 with an RBI.

Drew Lancaster picked up the win for Strasburg by working the final 6 innings after Baughman pitched the first inning. Lancaster struck out 8 batters and gave up 8 hits and 7 earned runs. The senior also went 2-2 with a triple and an RBI.

Already trailing 1-0, the Bobcats put together their best inning at the plate with a huge run rally in the second inning.

Green loaded up the bases before Brennan Renison stepped in and lined a hit into left to drive in a pair of runs and give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead.

With one out, Mason Neal pulled off a successful sacrifice bunt to reach base and allow Kase McIntyre to score from third. Gabe Blevins then doubled into right to bring home two more runs to make it 5-1.

After Jon Knapp was intentionally walked, Noah McMackin made good on the next pitch with a single into right to score two more runs and give the Bobcats a 7-1 lead heading into the third.

However, costly errors in the field and extra Tiger base runners — reaching via hit batsmen or walks — slowly ate into the lead and Strasburg eventually took the lead.

The Tigers evened the game up in the top of the fifth when Lancaster lined a hit into right that scored Brock Johnson.

Strasburg would take the lead for good in the sixth when Hurst got a hold of an 0-2 pitch that dropped just inside the left field foul line for a triple to score a pair of runs and make it 9-7.

The Bobcats would get a run back in the bottom of the frame off a sacrifice fly from Uriah Satterfield to cut the Tigers lead to just one.

However, the Tigers would score four more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach and go on to secure the win.

While the loss also closes the book on five seniors for the Bobcats — Conner Blanton, Knapp, Neal, Renison and Satterfield — Shoupe reflected on their accomplishments and how this group will be remembered.

"I told the seniors, you're going to go down as one of the great teams in program history. They won over 20 games this year, won 3 straight Southern Ohio Conference titles and won back-to-back district titles. That's a heck of a run,” said Shoupe.

Strasburg 103 212 3 = 12 11 3

Green 070 001 0 = 8 9 2

Brodie Baughman, Drew Lancaster (2) and Tanner Tucker. Jon Knapp, Gabe Blevins (6) and Noah McMackin. W-Lancaster (IP-6.0, H-8, R-8, ER-7, K-8, BB-2, HBP-0). Baughman (IP-1.0, H-0, R-0, ER-0, K-1, BB-0, HBP-1). L-Knapp (IP-5.0, H-9, R-9, ER-8, K-9, BB-3, HBP-4, WP-1). Blevins (IP-2.0, H-2, R-3, ER-3, K-2, BB-1, HBP-2). Hitting–Strasburg: Drew Lancaster 2-2 3B RBI, Brody Baughman 3-4 RBI, Keizer Thomas 1-1, Caden Dugan 1-2, Brodie Hurst 3-5 3B 5-RBI, Zaydan Barr RBI, Tanner Tucker 1-5 2-RBI, Zayden Barr RBI; Green: Riddick Jenkins 1-4, Mason Neal RBI, Gabe Blevins 3-3 2B 2-RBI, Noah McMackin 3-4 2-RBI, Uriah Satterfield 1-3 RBI, Brennan Renison 1-3 2-RBI.