Beverly/Lowell falls short in district championships

BEVERLY - Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 definitely developed a flair for the dramatic this season.

A day after rallying for a walk-off win against Zanesville Post 29 with a two-out hit in the bottom of the ninth Beverly/Lowell nearly did it again Thursday.

Unfortunately, the rally fell just short as Zanesville took a 7-6 win to claim the District 11 championship at Fort Frye High School and move on to next week's state tournament in Athens.

"I congratulate them. Zanesville is well coached. They came out here tonight and jumped right on top of us," said Beverly/Lowell head coach Todd Engle.

While Zanesville jumped on Beverly/Lowell early, Post 389/750 made the game exciting in the late innings scoring all six of their runs from the sixth inning on.

Beverly/Lowell put the tying run on third and nearly took the lead away from Post 29 when Kyle Piatt lifted a hard hit fly ball to the warning track in left-center field with Mark Tate on third base in the ninth.

On a warmer day when the ball travels better, Piatt's blast would've been a two-run home run but with the cooler temperatures for Thursday's game it turned into a heartbreaking out.

"He made a good pass at the baseball and hit it as far as you can hit it without getting anything for it," Engle said.

Piatt's blast nearly capped an exciting rally as Beverly/Lowell put up two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings and one in the ninth.

"I kept asking them, let's just get the tying run to the plate," Engle said.

The late scoring punch by Post 389/750 put fear into the hearts of the Zanesville players and coaches, who bitterly recalled the previous games experience, prompted by Post 29 head coach Dan Murphy's remark as Beverly/Lowell came back.

"Remember what happened last night? Don't let it happen again," Murphy shouted to his players.

Zanesville went ahead of Beverly/Lowell in the first inning, taking advantages of opportunities provided by a shaky start from Post 389/750 pitcher Evan Brockmeier.

Brockmeier struggled early, walking three batters in the first two innings and hitting another, before settling in.

On the night Brockmeier gave up six runs, but just two were earned as a second inning error allowed Post 29 to put up four unearned runs against the right-hander.

The top two hitters in the Zanesville lineup came to the plate each of the first three innings as Post 29 put plenty of baserunners on early.

Post 29's second inning proved to be the decisive one as a fielding error by Beverly/Lowell third baseman Tyler Proctor allowed the inning to continue.

A fielder's choice allowed the second run of the game to score after Zanesville put one run on the board in the first, and was followed by a two-run home run to left field by Zanesville catcher Shane Miller.

Zanesville then executed a double-steal with Jordan Ayres swiping second and J.T. Bunting taking home on catcher Garrett Proctor's throw.

After giving up the four runs in the second Brockmeier began to settle into his zone, giving up just one more run while working five innings. Chad Stengel came on in relief and allowed just a single unearned run in the sixth inning.

The loss ended Beverly/Lowell's season at 24-13 while Zanesville improved to 31-13. Saying goodbye to so many quality players was the hardest part to the bitter end for Post 389/750's season.

"When you look in their faces and see that, it makes it tough," Engle said. "I'm extremely proud of them."