Gehlen Catholic’s baseball team advanced to their fourth consecutive district championship game with a 12-2 win over Trinity Christian in six innings on Tuesday night.
The Jays were only able to put up one run in the first and one in the second, but they felt like they should have had more. Head coach Loi Kraft says the guys were making some solid contact early but just did not get the results they expected.
Thankfully, Gehlen did not have much to worry about because they had a rock-solid pitcher on the mound. Alex Peters went four innings allowing just one hit and striking out nine while keeping the Tigers off the board. Coach Kraft says his outing was made all the more impressive due to the circumstances and adversity surrounding it off the field.
The game did not stay all good all the time for Gehlen Catholic who gave up two runs to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning. That was not too big of a deal for the Jays who scored three runs in the fifth and won the game with an impressive seven runs in the sixth inning. Coach Kraft says that fight reminded him a lot of last year’s state tournament team.
The win sets up a fourth meeting between Gehlen Catholic and top-ranked Akron-Westfield for the district championship. Previous matchups this season have ended with scores of 10-6, 5-3, and 12-0 in five innings all in favor of Akron-Westfield. Coach Kraft says the Jays are going in with nothing to lose and are hoping to pull off a big upset.
The matchup between Gehlen Catholic and Akron-Westfield will be Saturday, July 13 at 7:00 PM in Akron at Sargent Field.
