Bishop Moore Walks Off American Heritage In 11th Inning
It had been seven years since the Bishop Moore Hornets had reached the state semifinal, and nine years since they last advanced to the championship round. So it is no surprise that they had the fortitude to withstand all they endured during Tuesday’s Class 4A state semifinal, against the defending state champion American Heritage Patriots.
Hornets’ sophomore Hayden Ramos drove in Owen Lenzen with the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh inning, ending a lengthy scoreless battle for a 1-0 walk-off victory.
Added to the fact that the contest took four extra innings to decide the victor, there was also a lengthy weather delay in the second inning that interrupted the action for over two hours. It disrupted the pitching plans, but both sides responded with heroic performances on the mound.
Senior J.T. Costello got the start for Bishop Moore, to face off against Patriots ace starter Brady Snow. Costello worked around a two-out walk for a scoreless first, and Snow also worked out of trouble in the first when Danny Garcia singled and Tyler Lomas walked with one out.
But after the delay, Snow did not return to the mound, as Costello instead found himself now dueling with reliever Mason McGeehan. Costello continued to give his heart for his team, mowing down Patriot batters and putting up zeroes on the scoreboard. He scattered two hits and three walks over seven-and-a-third innings, with nine strikeouts.
McGeehan responded with an equally valiant effort, tossing eight shutout innings. He allowed one hit and three walks, while piling up 11 strikeouts.
Forced from the action by the pitch count, Costello trusted his teammates to pick him up even though he could no longer factor in the decision. Junior Emmett Whalen took over on the mound and spun it the rest of the way to complete the shutout. Whalen allowed one run and did not issue any walks in three-and-two-third innings of work, and he had three strikeouts.
Patience finally paid off in the bottom of the eleventh. Will Kane, Brayden Schuster and Kobi Nethercutt all walked to load the bases, with Lenzen coming in to run for Kane. But instead he got to walk home after Ramos was hit by a pitch to force the winning run in.
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