Smith pitches Norwalk to tournament win

NORWALK — Back to the basics. Norwalk senior Cooper Smith wasn't feeling it early on Monday. Taking the mound for the final time at home, Smith hit two batters, allowed two hits — and was charged with a throwing error as visiting Toledo Bowsher scored twice in the top of the first inning of a Division I sectional semifinal game. Smith hit two more batters and allowed a single and a two-run double in the top of the second inning. Suddenly, NHS head coach Jason Higgins was worried his ace was overthrowing because of adrenaline. As it turned out, it was much simpler than that. "I wasn't using my legs as much," Smith said. "I just felt like I wasn't really in it with my delivery. Once I dialed in and got my legs into it, then it felt like I couldn't miss." He was right. Smith did not allow a hit over the final five scoreless innings as the Truckers pulled away for a 7-4 win over the Blue Racers (11-12). With the win, the No. 15-seeded Truckers (8-16) will travel to No. 2 Toledo St. John's (14-5) at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in a sectional title game. For the game, Smith allowed four earned runs on four hits over all seven innings. He struck out 12 with no walks on 115 pitches (76 strikes). "My fastball was the difference today, they just couldn't touch it," Smith said. "They weren't seeing it well, and every once in a while I'd throw a curveball they weren't expecting to balance it out." The Truckers immediately got to work in the bottom of the first inning to get Smith some run support. Bray Malson singled and scored after Smith had an RBI base hit for the first run. Ben Rothhaar singled and Smith scored on a fielding error on the play, which then allowed Rothhaar to advance to third. Nick Lukac then added an RBI double to give Norwalk a 3-2 lead. After Bowsher grabbed the lead back at 4-3 with two runs in the top of the second, the Truckers took it back for good in the bottom half of the frame. Jordan Gede singled and Malson walked for two runners with one out. Gede then scored on a wild pitch, and Smith followed with an RBI single for a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Carter Harp singled and scored on an RBI single again by Smith. In the fifth, Tanner Harp was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI single by Carter Harp for the final run of the game. "It comes down to timely hitting," Higgins said. "I wish we would have been able to get a couple more insurance runs, but we'll take what we can get. We've done a better job of executing as of late. "If we can scratch one or two an inning, we're going to give ourselves a shot in any game." Meanwhile, Smith struck out eight of the 15 outs he recorded in the last five perfect innings. "It feels great, surreal almost for this to be the last game at home," Smith said. "The best part of playing here has been just being around the best coaching staff I could have. "They helped me become the best player that I am, and just having fun with my teammates. We had a great time." Higgins was happy for his senior pitcher, who has helped the Truckers stay in a majority of their games despite 16 defeats. "Cooper is a guy that always wants the ball, even when it's not the best situation for him to be well-rested," Higgins said. "He's going to go out there and compete for us. Things started out rocky there, but by the third inning it just felt like he was ahead in the count every batter and just locked in. "Just really proud and excited for Cooper. He's kept us in a lot of games this year, and today kind of encapsulated that." In a season the Truckers returned just two regulars to the lineup from a 19-win team, Higgins has watched his team lose five one-run games in his first season after taking over his alma mater from 425-win head coach Wes Douglas. "We're staying in games," Higgins said. "I think as more experience comes, those close games we will be able to pull out. At any given point, we're playing four freshmen at a time. A lot of sophomores, too. "Part of baseball is learning," he added. "You can't be complacent with just competing. If we win these close ones, we could have had a winning season. But we have to learn from that, and we're making sure they understand if we play good baseball, we'll give ourselves a shot." That can all start on Wednesday against a strong Titans team from the Three Rivers Conference. "The guys talked about it and saw their field and it has some different dimensions," Higgins said. "They're excited to go play at a school that size and that successful. "It's baseball. Anything can happen, and they know if they can play a clean game, we'll keep ourselves in it."Bowsher 220 000 0 — 4 4 3Norwalk 320 100 x — 7 9 1WP: Smith; LP: Behrens2B: (B) Wise, Behrens; (N) N. Lukac