Strong pitching, timely hits, defense lead CJ to title game

COLUMBUS — Chaminade Julienne’s Ryan Peltier didn’t want to pitch against any other team in the state semifinals. He was the losing pitcher against Tallmadge in the state championship game on June 3, 2017, and 363 days later he didn’t plan to suffer the same fate.

Thanks to Peltier’s pitching, error-free defense by the Eagles and two timely hits — one by Peltier himself — the senior pitcher got everything he wanted in his second chance against the Blue Devils. Chaminade Julienne ousted the defending champs 2-1 in a Division II state semifinal at Huntington Park.

“It’s not easy to get back here two times in a row,” Peltier said. “We’re not going to get back to the state championship and lose again. We have to get this win tomorrow.” Chaminade Julienne (235) played Wapakoneta (241) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the championship game. The Redskins beat Circleville 6-1 in the semifinals.

Wapakoneta seeks its first state championship. Chaminade Julienne seeks its second. It won its first championship in 1970. No baseball team from Montgomery County has won two state titles.

Peltier pitched a complete-game two-hitter. He struck out four and walked four one year after giving up four earned runs on eight hits in six innings against Tallmadge.

“They had all those lefty hitters back,” Peltier said, “and I kind of went at them differently. I tried to throw inside on them more, and my fastball had better velocity than last year, so I thought I could beat them on the inside of the plate. I executed that very well today.”

Peltier drove in the first run of the game with a triple in the first inning. Andrew Simones, who walked to lead off the game and stole second, scored on the hit.

“It was huge,” Peltier said. “Pitching with the lead is easy.”

After Tallmadge tied the game on a two-out RBI single by Seth Gergely in the third inning, the Eagles regained the lead in the fourth. Designated hitter Jack Huffman’s single to center scored Nick Wissman.

“I was just looking to get the runner in,” Huffman said. “A two-strike pitch, I knew I had to put it in play.”

Chaminade Julienne coach Mike Barhorst had confidence in Huffman in that position.

“He’s been that kind of guy all year for us,” Barhorst said. “I know when he gets up there, he’s going to battle. He’s going to put the ball in play. He’s done that several times this year. He’s a sophomore. This is first year on varsity. He always seems to find a way to find green in the outfield when we need one.”

Chaminade Julienne’s defense proved to be just as big a part of the victory. While Tallmadge committed four errors — one leading to Chaminade Julienne’s second run — the Eagles didn’t commit an error and made several strong defensive plays, most notably a sliding catch by Simones in center field.

“Uncharacteristically, we made some errors (in the regional tournament), and we were able to overcome them,” Barhorst said.

“Against Tallmadge, against Wapakoneta, you just can’t afford to make any mistakes.”