CANTON, Ohio — Indian Hill baseball coach Cary Daniel and the entire team took time to reflect on a special journey after Friday night's Division IV state semifinal.
With a heavy rain in the team's midst, nothing would interrupt an opportunity for the players and coaches to speak about an unforgettable season. That gathering occurred just moments after Sandusky Perkins defeated Indian Hill 4-3 at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.
"They fought," Daniel said. "Sixty-four teams. We were one of four teams here (in Canton). We hate moral victories but the bottom line is that's something to be proud of. We didn't play our best game. We knew we had to execute to win. We just didn't execute."
Indian Hill (24-9) made its second state Final Four appearance and the first trip to the state tournament since 1993 when it was the Division III state runner-up.
Although it didn't earn the ultimate result this weekend, there is already an optimistic view toward next season.
With one senior on this year's roster, Indian Hill's potential for the future is promising.
"It was amazing," Daniel said. "As coaches this is our first time getting to this point. We didn't have expectations of getting here at the beginning of the year. We felt like we had a ton of things to work on and a very young team as far as varsity baseball wise. To get to this point was really exciting. And we definitely feel like we're ahead of the curve."
Sandusky Perkins (22-9) advances to play Mentor Lake Catholic (25-4) in the Division IV state final at 10 a.m. Sunday at Canal Park in Akron.
Perkins led 4-0 through six innings Friday night – scoring twice in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively. Indian Hill made it interesting in the top of the seventh with three runs of its own.
However, Indian Hill left six runners on base for the game while Perkins had just one stranded runner.
"It's tough because that's kind of been in all of our losses that's been our Achilles heel," Daniel said of the stranded runners. "Leaving guys on base by not getting them in. Having competitive at-bats, understanding our job and just putting the ball in play – too many strikeouts looking in those situations."
Indian Hill sophomore Devlan Daniel, Cary's son, was 2-for-4 with a double. Junior pitcher Jim Liebel had six strikeouts and didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. He also had a triple at the plate.
Juniors Luke Egnaczyk and Derek Zee also had hits for the Braves.
"We've got one senior on this team so we've got everybody coming back," Daniel said. "And we feel really good about it."
This weekend marks the 97th annual OHSAA baseball state tournament. There were 757 schools in Ohio who played baseball and seven will be crowned as a state champion.
Lakota West plays Lewis Center Olentangy in a Division I state semifinal at 4 p.m. Saturday at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.
The Division I state final is 4 p.m. Sunday at Canal Park.
