St. Henry ends Highlands season in extra innings

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands first baseman Todd Ramey (right) gets in position while St. Henry base runner Rex Rogers leads off. The Bluebirds lost 3-2.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

FLORENCE – The Highlands Bluebirds baseball had not won 20 or more games since chalking up 22 victories in 2007 entering the season.

The Blue and White hoped to end that string in the 9th Region quarterfinals Monday and more importantly, advance in the tournament for the second straight year. It did not happen as St. Henry won 3-2 in extra innings at University of Cincinnati Medical Center Stadium.

Highlands caught fire in the postseason last year. The Bluebirds downed Conner, 9-6 before beating Dixie Heights, 6-4 to advance to the 9th Region title game where they lost, 3-1 to rival Newport Central Catholic. Highlands also won the 36th District championship last year.

The Bluebirds could not consistently hit St. Henry ace Mitch Kuebbing. Kuebbing struck out 11 Bluebirds. Highlands batted .200 (6-for-3) against him while the Crusaders batted .258 (8-for-31).

“(Kuebbing) throws hard (highest pitch was 87 miles per hour),” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. “We don’t see a ton of guys who throw as hard as he does. It takes a lot of (repetitions) with guys that throw that hard to get your timing down. You have to tip your hat. There are days where guys come out and are better than you are. (On Monday), he was better than us. We just couldn’t catch up to him.”

Mitch Jones pitched the first six innings for Highlands. He struggled in the first but settled down not allowing a Crusader past second base the next five innings. Joey Cochran pitched the last two innings for the Bluebirds. Jones and Cochran combined to strike out seven Crusaders.

Highlands (19-18) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning when the Crusaders (17-18) put together a two-out rally. Rex Rogers infield singled and moved to third on a Markgraf ground-rule double. After Anthony Lacorte walked to load the bases, Craig Rose singled on a 2-2 count to left scoring Rogers and pinch-runner Michael Niemer.

Highlands had a chance to put some runs on the board in the bottom of the first frame. With two outs, Todd Ramey and Gabe Schultz recorded infield singles and Kuebbing hit Quentin Murray with a pitch to load the bases. But Kuebbing coaxed Evan Allen into grounding out at first.

The Bluebirds also put runners on first and second base in the second inning as Kuebbing hit Jake Lester and Jac Collinsworth with pitches. But Highlands could not push them across.

Highlands dented the scoreboard in the third inning. Ramey doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. With the infield draw in, Schultz recorded another infield single to score Ramey and cut St. Henry’s lead to 2-1.

The Bluebirds tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Quentin Murray tripled to left and Brady Murray ran for him. Highlands then executed another squeeze. Brady Murray ran hard home and Evan Allen landed the bunt to score him.

St. Henry retook the lead in the eighth inning at 3-2. Alex Conradi doubled and moved to second when Rogers singled. Rogers moved up to second on a throw prompting Highlands to intentionally walk Markgraf to load the bases. One out later, Craig Rose drew a bases-loaded walk allowing Conradi to score before Cochran retired the next two St. Henry batters.

The Bluebirds did have a chance to win the game in the botton of the seventh. With one out, Molina reached on a third-strike wild pitch and Jake Whitford singled him to second. But Kuebbing got Ramey to fly out to right and struck out Schultz to end the threat.

“It’s baseball,” Baioni said. “We’ll go through weeks where we’ll get that hit right there and win the game. Then there are days when you don’t get the hit. That’s just how it goes. You hope you get those hits at the right time. We didn’t (Monday).”

Conradi and Rogers both went 2-for-4 with a run scored for St. Henry. Rose had all three runs batted in for the visitors.

Ramey and Schultz also went 2-for-4 to lead Highlands. Ramey scored a run and Schultz had a run batted in.

The Bluebirds graduate nine seniors in Jake Heck, Jake Lester, Jake Liggett, Molina, Quentin Murray, Schultz, Colin Seidl, Jac Collinsworth and Reid Schroder. They helped revive the program. Last year’s run marked the first two region wins since 2002.

“It’s good that we set an example for these younger guys just as the seniors (in previous years) set an example for us,” Schultz said. “So it was good to come out and give them something to look forward to in the future.”

But Highlands does return some solid players for next year. Whitford, Ramey and Evan Allen are the returning starters with Cochran, Jones and Martin coming back to pitch.