Strong winds, small ball end Edison's run

FREMONT — Edison managed only two base hits and couldn't manage the brutal wind in Saturday's Division V district title game at Alumni Field. Fairview pitcher Elijah Arend shut down the Chargers in a 4-0 win that sends the Apaches to the regional round. "They did a better job of handling these conditions," Edison coach Sean Hoover. "They stayed on the ball better; they hit more line drives and ground balls. We lifted too many balls to do too much." The game was scoreless through five innings before Fairview broke through. The Apaches, state semifinalists last year, got it going in the sixth on Shady Fritch's leadoff fly ball to left field that looked like a sure out. The stiff wind, blowing in from center, seemed to affect Cole Leimeister, who couldn't secure the ball and Fritch ended up on second base. That's when things went from bad to worse for the Chargers as chaos ensued on the basepaths. Cleanup batter Anthony Singer laid down a bunt single to send the speedy Fritch to third. Noah Shininger followed with another bunt. Edison pitcher Eli Hermes tried to flip the ball to catcher Tristian Wetherill, but Fritch scored and the ball bounced toward the backstop. Singer rumbled toward third and Wetherill threw him out, but Edison was called for obstruction and Singer stayed at third and Shininger was at second. With Gavin Garza at the plate, the Apaches tried a suicide squeeze, but Singer was tagged out by Wetherill. Fairview still scored a second run when Garza's grounder to second — which came after Edison thought it had strike 3 — was bobbled by Brody McFadden and Shininger scored. "I knew when they got guys on base they were gonna bunt, wherever they were in the order," Hoover said. "They were gonna bunt, they were gonna squeeze, they were gonna play small ball. We worked on it yesterday. "At the end of the day, we didn't score any runs. It doesn't matter how we defend any of that stuff because we didn't even get a guy to third base. You gotta get it done offensively at some point to put a little pressure on them." Singer, the son of head coach Andy Singer, added a bunt for a RBI in the seventh. "Anthony's been in the dugout since he was 3 so he understands it," coach Singer said. "He hit a line drive into right in his first at-bat. He's like, 'Dad, I'm on it.' I'm like, 'Yeah, but we need a bunt here.' He's like, 'Alright, I'll bunt it.' "All our guys top to bottom understand the importance of small ball." Fairview, located in the northwest Ohio village of Sherwood, improved to 25-4. The Apaches went 28-4 last year. They won their first two tournament games by one run — scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to edge Ottawa Hills 7-6 before a 2-1, 12-inning win over Tinora on Wednesday. Singer struck out 13 in eight innings against Tinora. Coach Singer — who said "we have 1A, 1B and 1C" in the pitching rotation — said his team had plenty left in the tank after a marathon win in the district semifinals. "That's one of the nice things about coming from a small school and a farm school," he said. "These kids know what work is. When times get tough, you just go deep and keep battling. "We lost some good seniors last year after making the farthest run in school history. A lot of these guys who came back know what it takes to get there. We've won some very close games this season because of that." Edison, which finished with a 18-7 record, made 10 of 21 outs on flyballs or popups. "It's the opposite of what we did Thursday — ground balls, line drives, same conditions," Hoover said. "We knew what we had to do. We had trouble squaring it up. We put a lot of balls up where it was easy to make plays. "We both played in the same conditions. At the end of the day, they handled it better than we did." Hermes, who pitched 4 2/3 innings in a 10-0 district semifinal win over Huron, finished with 10 strikeouts in six innings and didn't allow an earned run. "He pitched well enough to win," Hoover said. "Maybe a couple of our bobbles got his pitch count up a little bit (111 pitches). He was strong, exactly what's he's been all year. We just didn't get it done behind him or at the plate." Edison kept Fairview off the scoreboard in the first inning when Singer singled to right field with Logan Olinger on second. Chargers right fielder Owen Price threw to cutoff man Ian Preston, who threw a strike to Wetherill to cut down Olinger at home. Edison got its first hit in the bottom of the first when Leimeister singled to left. He was erased when Fairview turned a double play. McFadden's infield hit in the fifth — a liner off Arend's glove — was the hardest ball Edison hit all day. "Mother Nature played a big role in it today," coach Singer said. "Elijah got them to pop up a lot of things and our outfield's one of the best and we were able to make those plays. Elijah did a very good locating his pitches and changing speeds." Fairview added two runs in the seventh off hard-throwing Bryson Wittmer, who issued two walks and struck out Shininger. Six seniors — Wittmer, Leimeister, Wetherill, McFadden, Chaz Smith and Elijah Ruck — played their last game for the Chargers. "They have four sectional titles, four league titles," Hoover said. "They left their mark on the program and we want to thank them." Fairview will play Liberty-Benton in a regional semifinal Wednesday in Elida. "Northwest Ohio's a beast," Hoover said. "Whoever makes it out of this group is gonna earn it. There's a lot of good teams." Fairview 000 002 2 — 4 7 0 Edison 000 000 0 — 0 2 4 WP: Arend; LP: Hermes