By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
One minute, the Webster Thomas Titans were on the verge of a big second inning, their smart at-bats forcing hard-throwing Greece Athena right-hander Connor Osier to work overtime to quell a bases-loaded threat and maintain a 2-1 lead.
The next minute, the Titans were wondering if an Athena bottom-of-the-second, merry-go-round on the basepaths would ever end.
It did, but only after 18 batters came to the plate and 13 runners scored. The host Trojans batted around twice in the inning and strolled to an 18-8 rout in the Section V Class AA quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.
“It’s 2-1, we’re right there, and then, bang, it just snowballed,” Thomas coach Kevin Neenan said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM LAURA ACCIAIO.
Who has? Eighteen batters in one inning?
“That was one crazy inning,” said Athena shortstop Sammy Saucke, whose bunt single drove home the second run of the inning before his towering three-run home run to straightaway center plated runs 10, 11 and 12. “They went through three or four pitchers through that inning and it’s definitely tough to stay focused for that long, but we did a great job.”
With the victory, third-seeded Athena (15-6) advanced to the semifinals to face 10th-seeded Irondequoit, an 8-7 winner over No. Webster Schroeder, on Thursday at Athena High School.
The Trojans started quickly against Thomas, with Derrick Allen, the third batter of the game, driving home the first run with an opposite field double on an 0-2 pitch, then scoring on Osier’s single for a 2-0 lead.
The Titans (13-9) immediately threatened in the top of the second. They sent seven batters to the plate, using three walks and a Kory Fiordeliso single to push across one run while forcing Osier to throw 32 pitches. Osier, however, escaped big trouble by striking out No. 3 hitter Tyler Estelle to end the rally.
“I thought we had good approaches at the plate, laying off his high fastball and making him work,” Neenan said.
But then, just like that, it was all for naught. Athena put up 13 in the bottom half of the inning against four pitchers to build a 15-1 lead. Ryan Grasley and Saucke each had two hits in the inning, Allen belted a no-doubt-about-it, three-run home run, and Grasley, Saucke, Allen and Mikey Coyle each scored twice.
In fact, Allen had crossed the plate three times before the game reached the third inning, and with three hits in his first three at-bats, the junior centerfielder boosted his average to .444.
“I felt hot in BP and it just carried over to the game,” Allen said.
Which was no surprise.
“I’m shocked when he gets out, to be honest,” Athena coach Tim Sova said. “And he hits the ball everywhere. Early in the year a couple teams tried a lefty shift and that ended pretty quick.”
Allen also drove in five runs, as did Saucke, while Coyle doubled twice, singled once and scored three times in helping the Trojans build an 18-4 lead after four innings.
The biggest benefit to the huge early lead: Athena was able to save Osier’s arm. Committed to attend the University of Houston next year, the senior threw 49 pitches in his two innings against Thomas, so he should be fresh for later in the week.
“If you’re going to put up a 13-run inning in sectionals, you do it early,” Sova said. “Everybody’s ready to go for the next.”
Thomas did keep scrapping, scoring three times in the third, twice in the fifth and twice in the sixth.
“I’m proud of our guys, they kept battling,” Neenan said, “and that says a lot about the character we have.”
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