Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Senior Writer and Northwest scout

TIFFIN - Granville capitalized on Wapakoneta errors and miscues to advance to the regional final to take on Defiance, who run-ruled Holy Name 15-1 in five innings as seen here.

The Blue Aces (22-6) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after two innings, scoring twice in the first and second innings.

Wapak got on top in the first with a Brandon Schreiber single scoring Alex Koch who drew a leadoff walk, however the Redskins could have had more but Andrew Hines (pictured) was thrown out at him on a seed thrown by junior centerfielder Brad Burkholder the Blue Aces answered with two runs.

Seniors Tate Stewart and Alex Marcum hit back-to-back singles with one out. After a strikeout and walk, Stewart scored on a Hunter Crates single. Burkholder followed Crates up with a single of his own, bringing in Marcum. Granville led 2-1 after the first.

In the second, Devon Dager roped a one-out double to left. After Dager stole third, Stewart walked to put runners on the corners. Dager was then thrown out at home when three-hole hitter Alex Marcum attempted a squeeze bunt. Clay Hartness then stepped up to the plate and hit a dribbler towards short and talented unsigned senior Josh Apple tried to bare hand the ball, but was unable to, Stewart (pictured left) scored on the error. The Redskins then added to their trouble by getting to the ball slow allowing Marcum (pictured right) to race home and score on an overthrow to the plate by the Redskins second baseman to put Granville up 4-1 after two.
 

“We know we’re a good hitting team and we’ve always hit the ball and have always been confident,” Granville coach Vince Ghiloni said. “Wapak is probably the best defensive team that I’ve seen all year when I’ve scouted them. When you have speed like we have, you put pressure on guys and they have to make the throw and sometimes they didn’t do it but that was a great ball team.”

However, Wapak exploded for four runs in the sixth to take the lead. 

Apple hit a bloop double to right to begin the inning and Bowling Green State University recruit Johnny Crawford followed with a single. Senior Andrew Hines then hit a long sacrifice fly that allowed Apple to score. Kaeck was then hit by a pitch to and Schreiber followed with a walk to load the bases for Marshall Gerlach (pictured left). The senior brought all three runners in with a three-run double to the left field, giving the Redskins a 5-4 after five.

The Redskins however fell apart again in the sixth.

Senior Aaron Gilliam hit a ball in the hole between first and second, where Koch made a diving play and throw to first. Gilliam and the ball reached first simultaneously and the call went to the runner in this instance. Jimmy Ballenger came in to pinch run for Gilliam. Dager then reached on an error where the leadoff hitter hit a routine fly ball behind second where the Redskins rightfielder for some reason called Apple off and tried to make a diving play, but came nowhere near the ball allowing Ballenger to get to third. Ballenger tied the game after Stewart hit a sacrifice fly. Later in the inning, the Blue Aces attempted a double steal and Wapak catcher Schreiber threw the ball in the dirt to Gerlach at third base, allowing Dager to score on the play to make the score 6-5 in what proved to be the winning run for the Blue Aces.

“We had a gutsy performance from our kids,” Wapak head coach Jason Brandt said. “Not our best defensive effort but when you get to this part of the season, you can’t make mistakes. Granville probably capitalized on every mistake that we made. I’m proud of our kids coming back. I was extremely happy with how we came back down three”

Wapakoneta will lose 11 seniors from this year's team, who advanced to the state title game a year ago.

“They’ve (the seniors) meant a lot,” Brandt said. “I think they had 85 wins in their four years. That’s the best in Wapak history and they’re going to be hard to replace. They came in and raised the bar, those kids set the bar and that’s a great thing for our younger kids to be able to see. It’s emotional because it’s a good group of kids and they’re going to be sorely missed.”

To view scouting notes from this game, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week.

To view notes on unsigned seniors please visit the Unsigned Senior Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week.

To discuss this game, please visit our partner JJHuddle.

LINESCORE

Wapakoneta   100  004  0  -  5  9  4
Granville         220  002  x  -  6  11  1
Records: Granville 22-6, Wapakoneta 18-6.
Winning pitcher: Clay Hartness (7 innings, 5 runs, 9 hits, 4 strikeouts, 4 walks).
Losing pitcher: Johnny Crawford (5 1/3 innings, 6 runs, 11 hits, 6 strikeout, 2 walks). Other: Chace Culver.
Leading hitters: (Wapakoneta, 9 hits) - Josh Apple double; Chandler Kaeck 2 singles; Brandon Schreiber 3 singles; Marshall Gerlach double, 3 RBIs. (Granville, 11 hits) - Devon Dager single, double; Alex Marcum 3 singles; Hunter Crates 2 singles; Brad Burkholder 2 singles.