By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Charlie Sipe (Northrop/Fort Wayne, Ind.) had a tremendous day offensively, but it wasn't enough as the Owens Community College baseball team saw their season come to an end with a pair of losses to Cuyahoga Community College and Vincennes University in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Sub-Region XII tournament at Owens Community College.
Game 1: Cuyahoga 8 Owens 7 (Winner's Bracket Semifinals)
Sipe went 4-for-4 with two homers and six RBIs, but Kyle Bennett (Grove City/Grove City, Ohio) had his first rough outing of the season at the worst time as the Express fell into the loser's bracket in walk-off fashion.
Sipe put the Express up 1-0 in the third with an RBI single that scored Tiger Jaso (Lakota/Kansas, Ohio), who had singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch earlier in the inning.
Cuyahoga answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth off Bennett to take their first lead of the game. However, Sipe answered with a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Later in the same inning, Anthony Perez (Orrville/Orrville, Ohio) laced an RBI single to center that scored Marcus Rozsa (All Saints Secondary/Whitby, Ontario, Canada) to give the Express a 4-3 lead.
Cuyahoga wouldn't back down, though, and got an RBI single from Cory Hall and a three-run triple by AJ Deutsch in the fifth to lead 7-4.
In the Express sixth, Austin Legate (Strongsville/Strongsville, Ohio) walked and Jaso singled. They moved to second and third with two outs and Sipe coming up. Cuyahoga chose not to walk him and paid on the first pitch as Sipe sent a game-tying, three-run homer to right center.
Neither team would score until the bottom of the seventh when Jared Purdy's one-out RBI single through the right side gave Cuyahoga an 8-7 win.
Dru Sebastian (Blackhawk Christian/Fort Wayne, Ind.) took the loss in relief. The sophomore (4-5) allowed two hits, one run and one walk over 0.2 innings. He entered in relief of Bennett in the sixth and pitched out of a jam before allowing the walk-off in the seventh.
Bennett's final line included 5.2 innings, nine hits, seven runs, three walks and six strikeouts. Entering today, he had given up only eight earned runs all year.
RJ Endly got the win in relief for Cuyahoga. He allowed three hits, three runs and one walk while striking out one over two innings.
Aside from Sipe, Perez, Michael Finch (Norwalk/Norwalk, Ohio) and Jaso each finished with two hits, while Jaso and Sipe were the only two players with two runs.
Cuyahoga's 4-5 hitters combined to hit 4-for-8 with three runs and six RBIs.
Game 2: Vincennes 11 Owens 3 (Loser's Bracket Semifinals)
Blake Kuszmaul (Bryan/Bryan, Ohio) was the victim of four unearned runs, while the Express offense just couldn't find much success against Vincennes starter Trent Simpson in an 11-3 loss.
Vincennes got on the board first with four runs in the bottom of the first. They added another run on a sacrifice fly in the second to lead 5-0.
The Express got a run off a wild pitch and RBI singles from Alec Skender (Metamora/Metamora, Ill.) and Taran Temple (Delta/Muncie, Ind.) in a three run third that pulled them within two.
It marked their final scoring rally of the season, though.
Vincennes added four in the fourth and two in the fifth to finish off the Express, who were out-hit 13-7 in the game.
Kuszmaul (1-4) took the loss as his final line included 3.2 innings, nine hits, nine runs (five earned) and two walks. Nick Morrow (Fairfield/Fairfield, Ohio) and Samuel Hackney (Edgewood/Trenton, Ohio) both pitched in relief. Morrow allowed three hits and two runs over 1.1 innings, while Hackney allowed one hit and one walk in one inning.
Vincennes, who didn't have a batter strike out all game, got six strikeouts from their starter, Simpson, who went the distance to improve to 9-4. He allowed seven hits, three runs and two walks.
Skender (3-for-4, run, RBI) and Temple (2-for-3, RBI) led the Express offense against Vincennes.
Simpson, meanwhile, helped his cause at the plate, too, as he finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs.
Wrap Up
The Express finish the season 19-26 after today's losses. Cuyahoga ended up losing in walk-off fashion to Lakeland Community College in the winner's bracket final later in the day. Thus, Cuyahoga will meet Vincennes at 11 a.m. tomorrow in the loser's bracket final for the right to take on Lakeland in the championship.
Should the loser's bracket team defeat Lakeland at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow, an if necessary game would take place at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
All games are being held at the Owens Community College Toledo campus, and the winner of the tournament advances to the Region XII tournament next week.
The Express are in good shape for next year as their top six hitters were freshmen, while their top pitcher, Bennett, is also a freshman. Sipe (.379), Chad Lupher (East Knox/Bladensburg, Ohio) (.348), Jaso (.336) and Finch (.315) all hit over .300 in their first collegiate seasons. Sipe led the team in hits (47), triples (3), RBIs (34), walks (20) and stolen bases (11).
Despite his rough outing today, Bennett finished 6-1 this year with a 2.26 ERA. In 59.2 innings, he struck out 47 hitters.