Spartans outlast Demons

SOLON - From the very first pitch to the absolute last one, Fridays' Class 3A district baseball semifinal between Washington and Solon was a classic. Except for the fact that extra-inning games shouldn't end on an umpire's call.

The walk to bring home the winning run in a 6-5 Solon victory revived a painful memory for Washington head coach Nathan Miller.

'Ending on a walk, it's tough, but it happens,” he said. 'I can think back to my junior year when I walked in the winning run against Mt. Pleasant at Mt. Pleasant. It is a tough way to go down.”

Brady Knutson had everyone for Washington up when he smacked the first pitch of the game up the middle for a single. Two outs followed, but Trevor Quigley was walked before Ethan Patterson lashed a ball to the fence for a double that gave the Demons a 2-0 lead.

Patterson was the starting pitcher but ran into trouble in the third inning when Solon scored four runs. Luke Turner replaced him and got the final out after he hit a batter.

'Ethan was having trouble locating so I thought it was best to make the change at that time,” Miller said. 'It was just a gut feeling on what I was seeing.”

Turner's RBI-double in the fourth inning pulled the Demons within 4-3.

Quigley led off the fifth with a single, followed by Patterson's single. Lucas Kroll sacrificed the runners over, then Wilx Witthoft singled in a run. Brandon Dickel's hustle gave him an infield hit that scored a run for a 5-4 Washington advantage.

An error put the first Solon batter of the sixth inning on base. Demon catcher Ethan Zieglowsky made an incredible diving catch of a bunt for the first out. Turner struck out the next batter but gave up a run-scoring double to tie the game at 5-5.

Knutson got a one-out single in the top of the eighth inning and Turner was walked. A groundout left the runners at second and third. Quigley laced a ball up the middle that hit the courtesy runner for the third out.

'We got a lucky break,” Solon head coach Keith McSweeney said. 'That is just a strange play. In a game like this where it can go either way, sometimes that kind of freak play ends up deciding things.”

'That's just tough and that's the breaks,” Miller said.

The same could be said for the bases-loaded walk that decided the game.

'Offensively, we looked as good as we have in the last couple weeks,” Miller said. 'This was a great battle.”

Solon took advantage of some situations the Demons out themselves in with walks and hit batters.

'Ultimately that ended up being the end game,” Miller said.

The Demons left 11 men on base, seven in scoring position.

'We had our opportunities in the game to break it open,” Miller said. 'Even in the top of the eighth, if we get one base hit, we break it open or we get two runs. I like our chances in the bottom of the eighth if we scored two in the top.”

Solon takes its 14-7 record to the district final Tuesday, hosting Clear Creek-Amana (14-5), a 10-4 winner over Fairfield.

Washington ends the season with a 9-8 record.

'We have a lot of respect for that program,” McSweeney said. 'Nathan does a great job. They really competed.”

'I love the attitude our guys had the entire game, especially in tight situations,” Miller said. 'Luke made some great pitches to get us out of trouble a few times and the guys made plays behind him.”