Dan Gilles
The Chronicle-Telegram
AVON - It all started with a hard shot up the middle by Avon freshman Joel Yeagley that glanced off the glove of Brookside pitcher Stephen Moody.
That error started a chain reaction of calamity for Brookside and success for the Eagles in a Division II sectional semifinal baseball game Monday.
When the dust settled in the third inning, the Eagles sent 11 men to the plate and nine of them reached base - thanks to three hits, a walk and six errors by the Cardinals - and scored seven runs.
That big inning proved to be the difference in a 9-3 victory for Avon. It was the first postseason win for the Eagles in “several years,” according to coach Frank DeSmit.
Avon (9-11), the No. 4 seed, advances to play top-seeded Vermilion today for the sectional championship. Game time is 4:30 p.m. at Vermilion.
“It was a good ballgame, but one inning cost us,” Brookside (6-8) coach Dan Zagorsky said. “I don`t think the kids were able to bounce back from that. Their heads were down a little bit. I think, for a couple of innings after that, that knocked the socks off of them.”
Brookside, which led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third, threatened to break the game open in the top of the inning, loading the bases with one out, but Avon pitcher Mike Horning came back to strike out Rocky Radeff and retire Hunter Skolnicki on a deep fly to right that Tyler Guthrie had to catch over his shoulder on the dead run to escape the jam.
“Tyler Guthrie made a heck of a catch there,” DeSmit said. “He kind of got turned around pursuing the ball and was able to recover with that nice over-the-shoulder catch. It was big considering the juncture of the game when it occurred.”
If there was a momentum swing, Guthrie`s catch might have been it. Feeding off that play, the Avon offense went to work against Brookside and their young fielders.
Yeagley, after reaching on the leadoff error, promptly stole second and advanced to third when Radeff`s throw from the plate sailed into center field. Horning walked to put runners on the corners for Colin Moran.
Moran delivered a deep fly ball to left that was caught by Luke Ackerman, but Yeagley tagged up easily and scored Avon`s first run of the game.
Matt Trnian followed with a single, and both he and Horning scored on a single by Josh Conrad to make it 3-1.
Back-to-back botched groundballs allowed Guthrie and Jake Pisch to reach base - and for Trnian to score the fourth run of the inning. In between the grounders, Zagorsky pulled Moody for Brad Masters. Then, DeSmit got a bit daring.
Calling for a suicide squeeze, Guthrie got a great jump and was practically sliding into home when Quinn Rambo laid down a perfect bunt between the mound and third. A stunned Cardinal defense failed to field the bunt in time, and Rambo was safe with an RBI-bunt single.
“We`ve got a couple of guys who are really bunting the ball well,” DeSmit said. “I always preach to the guys all the time, if you`ve got good wheels, use that as a weapon every time you come up. We felt like it was high-percentage play at that point in time. We try to be as aggressive as we can on the basepaths, and that leads to stuff like the squeeze.”
Patrick Furnas, the ninth hitter of the inning, grounded out to second, but it scored Pisch for the sixth run. Then, Yeagley finished what he started, delivering a hit to right field to score Rambo for the seventh and final run of the neverending inning.
“We`ve had a weird year offensively,” DeSmit said. “We haven`t been real consistant, but we`ve had some big innings. We were fortunate to put up a big number in that inning, and that kind of loosened us up a little bit.”
Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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