Pioneers win sectional title in extra innings

Similar to its opening sectional win over Midview, Elyria got down early May 16 at home against Avon in the sectional final. But once again, they battled back and thanks to a Noah France walk-off RBI sac fly in the bottom of the eighth inning, prevailed in a 7-6 win. No. 4 Elyria (17-14) moves on to face No. 1 seed St. Edward in a district semifinal on May 21. In the bottom of the eighth inning after intentionally walking Michael Knapp to load the bases with one out, France hit a flyout to right field to score Kevin Reddinger. It capped a crazy day at the ballpark. “I was hoping he would throw me outside and just get it in the air,” said France, who finished 3-for4. “It was awesome and I thought (Knapp) would get the walkoff, but they walked him and it was just my time.” The Eagles tagged three first inning runs off of Pioneers starter Evan Engle, who lasted 2 1/3 innings battling through flu-like symptoms. But coach Ed Piazza keeps referencing his team’s neverdie attitude, and in the bottom of the third, scored five runs to take the lead. It started with Knapp ripping a two-run single scoring Reddinger and Hunter Osborne. Then, Zachary Schuster scored Engle on a single and Chris Willis capped the inning with a two-run double. The Pioneers knocked Eagles starter Ryan Starr out after two innings. “Today is probably the proudest I’ve been of these guys, just overcoming everything,” Piazza said. But Avon tied it in the fourth after Brandon Doehne hit a grounder forcing an error at first base, scoring Nate Brooks and then Josh Rattay scored from third on a wild pitch. Elyria thought they responded in the bottom half when it looked like Knapp hit a two-run home run that looped around the foul pole, but the home plate umpire ruled it foul. The Eagles’ Brooks blasted an RBI double in the fifth scoring Michael Matlak to regain the lead, 6-5, forcing Elyria again to come back. In the bottom of the seventh and two on in scoring position with one out, coach Piazza made the call of the season, instructing Cameron Brubaker to lay down a bunt suicide squeeze scoring Knapp to tie, 6-6, to keep them alive. “He wants that bunt, he looked at me when he came up,” Piazza said. “He shows no emotions and I know he’s ready.” That setup France’s heroics in the bottom of the eighth. “It’s amazing playing in a game like this and it’s everything a kid will grow up and want,” Knapp said. “It’s fun to do it.” Avon used five total pitchers to get through the 8-inning game, and coach Craig Kirschner had nothing but positive things to say about his group. “The one thing I knew we had a lot of was pitching,” he said. “We had the arms and you guys saw it. We relied on our pitching all year. I’m so proud of our guys for fighting. There was one inning where they didn’t hit one hard hit ball and still were getting hits over our heads. But that’s baseball and we can’t control that. That’s the game of life, too. I’m proud of the 14 seniors for what they’ve done.” France has only struck out five times this season and Piazza was close to calling a suicide bunt, but thought better of it. “He likes hitting to the right side and he always hits it hard,” he said. “I believe in the kid.” Elyria turns its attention to St. Edward, a rematch of last season’s district semifinals which the Pioneers lost. But they’ll enjoy this one first.