Much like their state tournament opener in 2017, the 2024 Akron-Westfield baseball team needed extra innings to move on to the state semifinals. The Westerners got it done with a walk-off nine-inning 3-2 win over eight-seed Bedford in Carroll on Monday afternoon.
In a game of tight margins, it took small things to send one team over the top. Akron-Westfield head coach Gordon Johnson says his team did all the little things right.
Nathan Gaswint got the start on the mound for the Westerners, and he was in a groove right away. He struck out the side in the top of the first inning leading to 13 strikeouts for the game. He says the energy brought by his first state tournament start was incredible to experience.
The Westerners went down in order in their first two innings at the plate but would break through in the third inning. After the first two batters were put out, Ashton McCully started a two-out rally that would lead to two more hits including a triple by Carter Wilken and two runs scoring. Wilken says he made solid contact, and he was off to the races from there.
The third inning was a prime example of the Westerners being a team that never back down from a fight. Coach Johnson says he asks for the kids to battle hard, and they did that well.
Bedford was not going to go down without a fight though as they scored two runs in the fourth to tie the game. Those would be the only runs for the next five innings with neither side able to break through. Part of that was due to the one-two pitching punch of Nathan Gaswint and Ashton McCully who pitched the final two innings. Gaswint says both he and McCully are tough to face off with.
The bottom of the ninth would be the big inning for Akron-Westfield to win the game. Arik Allard picked up a one-out hit to represent the winning run. He was followed by another hit from Hayden Wahlberg and Ashton McCully getting plunked by a pitch. Coach Johnson gave Wilken the suicide squeeze sign, and he got the bunt down to win the game. Wilken says he was nervous at first but felt the confidence during the at-bat that he could get the job done.
Coach Johnson says he was confident knowing that Wilken was ready to do his part to win the game.
The bunt scored Allard from third to win the game 3-2. Allard says the suicide squeeze is a play that requires a lot of trust in your teammates. He says that has been a big growing point for this group of seniors.
The Westerners improve to 28-3 and are on to the state semifinals on Wednesday night. They will face off with Lynnville-Sully who has been to state two years in a row. Coach Johnson says the preparation process does not change saying his guys are going to continue to work on getting better leading up to Wednesday.
First pitch between Lynnville-Sully and Akron-Westfield is set for 7:00 PM on Wednesday night. You can listen to the game only on KLEM Radio with pregame coverage starting at 6:45 PM.
