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St. Henry's Ethan Nietfeld (1) congratulates Hayden Boeckman after Boeckman scored a run against Fort Recovery on April 25. Boeckman is hitting .337 and leads the Redskins with 28 RBI, while Nietfeld is St. Henry's starting second baseman and one of four pitchers to take the mound during its run to the Division IV state tournament this weekend.
For the first decade of the 21st century, it didn't seem like a St. Henry baseball team without a Gast behind the plate.
Bill Gast was the backstop when the Redskins won state in 2000 after being a first baseman/designated hitter during the 1999 title run, and brother Adam was the catcher when St. Henry won its third title in 2003.
Mike Gast was the last of the catching Gasts when he played up to 2007, but unlike his older brothers, the trip to state and bringing home a gold trophy just missed him.
Now, he gets his chance, but as the head coach of his alma mater, as St. Henry takes on defending champion Russia on Thursday in the Division IV state semifinals at Canal Park in Akron at 4 p.m.
"I think I would have liked (a state title) as a player, too," said Gast after last Friday's 8-5 win over Delphos St. John's at the Elida Regional to send the team to state for the first time in 20 years. "It was neat to have Bill here watching. He has a nephew, Hayden (Boeckman, whose uncle Todd Boeckman was on the 2003 state title team), so a lot of family connections."
The coaching staff knows the feeling of winning at state. Neil Schmitz won the 1999 state semifinal game and then won both games in 2000 with Kyle Kunk starting on the mound in the semifinal. Joe Wourms started in the outfield in 1999 and 2000 with Brad Huelsman starting at shortstop in 1999.
In addition, freshman coach Greg Schwartz was the catcher on the 1999 title team.
"It's special for all of us for sure," said Mike Gast.
The Redskins (24-6) aren't a big slugging team, batting just .305 as a unit this season, but have banded together to average seven runs per contest.
Nolan Kunkler, who was batted for early in the season due to injury, is batting .364 in 44 at-bats this season with 16 runs scored. Logan Link has a team-high 30 runs scored to go with a .352 average. Hayden Boeckman leads the team with 28 runs batted in with a .337 average.
As a team, St. Henry has been proficient in moving around the bases. The Redskins have 99 stolen bases this season and have a 91.7% success rate (99-of-108). Five players have 13 or more swipes, led by Link's 23. Eli Horstman is a perfect 19-of-19.
Despite having one of his roughest starts this season in allowing five runs against the Blue Jays, Devin Delzeith remains the big arm of the pitching staff, with an 11-0 record, a 1.15 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 73 innings.
Lucas Clune (3-2, 3.75 ERA) has had two strong performances with wins in the district final and regional semifinal. The only other Redskins to pitch in the postseason are Ethan Nietfeld and David Clune.
To reach the final, the Redskins will have to get past a Raiders team that has not dropped a stitch after winning the program's second state title last year (the first was in 1971). Russia also has two runner-up finishes, the most recent in 2017 in losing to Minster in the state final.
Coach Spencer Cordonnier has a solid team that's 25-6 after going 10-2 in Shelby County League play.
Sophomore Braylon Cordonnier, who was named the SCL Player of the Year this season, has been the go-to player on the mound and at the plate. In the regional final at Wright State University, Cordonnier held Southeastern to seven hits, six being singles, and struck out nine without a walk in beating the Trojans 4-1.
On the season, Cordonnier is 6-1 with a 0.93 earned run average with 55 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings pitched. Cordonnier also is batting a team-high .392 with 10 doubles, four triples and 27 runs scored.
In the semifinal, which was played at Wittenberg's Davidson Stadium in Springfield, Xavier Phlipot pitched a three-hit shutout in the Raiders' 4-0 win over Berne Union. In the 2022 state title game, Phlipot outdueled current Ohio State pitcher Landon Price in the Division IV final as the Raiders defeated Lincolnview 10-4. Phlipot, a first team All-SCL selection, is 5-1 with a 0.49 ERA to go with a .330 batting average.
Also back from last season are two first team All-SCL selections - infielder Brayden Monnin (.368, 11 doubles, 30 RBI) and outfielder Zane Shappie (.315, 29 runs). SCL second-teamers Hayden Quinter (infielder, .301, 23 runs), Felix Francis (.301, 28 runs) and Ross Fiessinger (.221, 12 runs batting, 7-0, 1.42 ERA pitching) also return from the title team. Freshman Cooper Francis (.333, 4-2, 2.06 ERA) was an honorable mention Shelby County selection.
The Redskins and Raiders met in the regular season at the St. Henry/WCSM Tournament. With both teams playing most of their roster as the Raiders were coming off a run to state in basketball, Russia picked up a 6-4 win to take the tournament title.
In St. Henry's five previous trips to state, the Redskins have come home with at least a runner-up trophy.
The 1945 and 1946 teams, led by future major leaguer Wally Post and future Hall of Fame baseball coach Lou Brunswick, finished each season as runner-up in a format where eight teams played in a quarterfinal/semifinal/final format. The 1999, 2000 and 2003 teams all won titles.
In the 7 p.m. state semifinal, Berlin Hiland (28-1) takes on Tiffin Calvert (29-2). The winners return Saturday at 1 p.m. to play for a state title.
