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St. Henry players celebrate after defeating Defiance 7-5 to win the program's first ACME Baseball Congress championship on Monday night at Holy Name Ballpark in Kalida.
KALIDA - St. Henry survived Defiance's big inning, and answered with two of their own.
Tate Boeckman's one-out single brought home two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Owen Zimmerman finished off five innings of no-hit relief with a 1-2-3 seventh to give the Redskins their first-ever ACME Baseball Congress state championship with a 7-5 win over the Bulldogs at Holy Name Ballpark in Kalida.
St. Henry, which started the summer with four straight losses, finishes at 11-8. Defiance, trying for its 13th title in summer ball, ends at 19-11.
"These guys got no quit," said St. Henry coach Josh Heitkamp. "You can never get them down. They come back. It's our first time in the ACME final. Winning leads to winning, that's what coach Gast (spring coach Mike Gast) says. He's put that winning mentality in these players."
St. Henry's Tate Boeckman avoids being hit by a pitch.
The Redskins struck first as Boeckman reached on an error and came home when Owen Zimmerman's infield single resulted in a throwing error.
But Defiance, which had scored 25 runs in its first two state games, came back with its attempt at a knockout punch against St. Henry starter Jack Buschur. After Buschur got the first out of the second inning, the Bulldogs belted five straight hits. Diego Tavares got things going with a single, followed by a single from Xzavier Rodriguez. James Tracy brought home both runners with a double down the right field line to give Defiance a 2-1 lead. Brayden Weaver followed with a single to score Tracy. Buschur got the second out with a fielder's choice, but Drew Allegretti reached on an infield single, with the throw going wild to allow Jase Brownlee to score. Allegretti then came home on a Jaren Honsberger single to wrap up the five-run inning.
"(Defiance) got those five runs, and our heads went down a little bit," said Heitkamp. "We got a little nervous."
Owen Zimmerman pitched five innings of no-hit scoreless relief to earn Most Valuable Player honors.
But that was all the Bulldogs would get. Owen Zimmerman, who was limited to two innings in the spring due to injury and had not pitched in the summer, came on in the third and quieted the Defiance bats. Zimmerman did not allow a hit, walked four and struck out three over five innings.
"I was ready to go. I rarely pitch at all," said Zimmerman. "This was my first time (pitching) for ACME. I was fired up because I got the chance to pitch in the championship game."
"He took the game over. (Defiance) was hitting the ball well to start the game," said Heitkamp of Zimmerman. "He was throwing strikes. Had a great off-speed."
After allowing the first-inning run, Mason Noirot kept St. Henry scoreless for the next three innings, recording four of his nine strikeouts from the second to the fourth innings.
Noirot struck out Hudson Schmitz to start the fifth, but Drew Langenkamp drew a walk, then went to second on an errant pickoff throw. After Boeckman struck out, Jake Schwieterman got the rally going with a single to score Langenkamp. Owen Zimmerman followed with a double to put runners at second and third for Jack Huelsman, who grounded to second. A bobble and bad throw resulted in two more runs crossing to make it 5-4. Austin Zimmerman then hit a double to the fence in left-center to score Huelsman to tie the game.
St. Henry's Austin Zimmerman (27) throws to first base as teammate Austin Kunk watches during Monday's game in Kalida.
"Players stepped up. Seniors stepped up and took the game over," said Heitkamp. "We started hitting and never stopped."
Allegretti came on to pitch the sixth and walked Buschur, who was replaced by pinch-runner Logan Schmitz. Hudson Schmitz then bunted. The throw hit Hudson Schmitz in the back, but the umpire ruled that he was in fair territory, calling him out and ordering Logan Schmitz back to first. Undaunted, Langenkamp doubled to left to put runners at second and third for Boeckman. As Defiance held a mound meeting, many were wondering if the left-hand hitting Boeckman would be called on for a squeeze bunt to bring the go-ahead runner home.
"When they went to the mound, we were like 'What do you want to do? Bunt? Squeeze maybe," said Boeckman, "I was like 'I feel more comfortable putting the bat on the ball.' "
Turned out to be the perfect call, as Boeckman took the first offering from Allegretti down the third-base line for a single, allowing Logan Schmitz and Langenkamp to score the go-ahead runs. A 6-4-3 double play kept the Redskins from doing any more damage.
All that remained was for Owen Zimmerman to close out the game, and he needed just 11 pitches to do so. Colt Ward popped out to Buschur, now playing third base, for the first out, Grady Crist then lofted a fly to left that Hudson Schmitz easily tracked down and snagged for the second out. Tavares then stepped in and took a 1-1 offering to third base. Buschur made the play, threw with no rush, and Schwieterman easily squeezed the ball in his mitt to start the celebration.
St. Henry's Jake Schwieterman begins to celebrate after recording the final out on Defiance's Diego Taveras' groundout on Monday.
"I give props to Owen. He's had arm problems," said Boeckman. "He came in, threw strikes and threw hard. It just carried into the offense
Owen Zimmerman, who also went 3-for-3 at the plate, was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for his performance. Boeckman, who won Sunday's semifinal game over Kalida, Max Delzeith, who pitched the only shutout of the tournament in beating Fairview 4-0 on Saturday, and Austin Zimmerman, who went 5-of-10 with five RBI and three doubles in three games were named to the All-Tournament Team.
