“You saw it on Wednesday, and you saw it today,” Lakota West coach Brad Gschwind said. “This is what high school baseball is all about.”
It really was.
The Lakota West Firebirds and the Mason Comets took part in not one, but two knock-down, drag-out Greater Miami Conference battles this week.
The result? A series split — for now.
Lakota West beat the defending Division I state champions in a 3-2 contest on Wednesday in West Chester Township.
The Firebirds held most of the advantage in that game despite Comets pitcher Ben Hanley throwing a three-hitter and striking out 11.
Lakota West’s Tucker Wilburn also tossed a three-hitter, going the distance with six strikeouts. A two-run fourth inning by the Firebirds was the difference.
“You got more of the same here today,” Comets coach Curt Bly said following his team’s 2-1 victory on Friday. “It was nip-and-tuck at their place Wednesday — a one-run ball game.
“They’re a great team, really experienced and got a lot of really nice players and a great coaching staff. We’re glad we were able to salvage the split today, and hopefully, generate into next week and have a good week.
“But it was definitely tough — both games.”
The conditions were even tougher Friday.
The first four innings saw a steady rainfall that played a factor on the mound, though you may not have been able to tell by looking at the box score.
If you were there, you could tell. And if Friday’s game was played at Lakota West, the infield would have been under a muddy lake.
Mason’s infield turf allowed for some top-notch baseball to be played out.
From players talking smack in soaked hats and dampened jerseys to wild pitches splashing against the backstop — there was a mixture of everything on display.
There was even a solo home run by Mason’s Hutch Crociata that smacked the rain on its way over the right-field fence.
Lakota West small-balled its way to a run in the third inning, which tied it at 1-1. Mason junior Liam Sander was plunked by Firebirds starter Adrian Smith to bring across the deciding run when the bases were loaded in the fifth.
Then Mason halted a Lakota West threat in the final inning to close it out.
“I just keep telling the kids to keep going,” Gschwind said. “We’re playing good baseball right now. I like where we’re at.”
Mason (12-2) began the week ranked second in the state, while Lakota West (11-4) was at 11th.
“We’re still trying to find ourselves in a lot of ways,” said Bly, who graduated 17 from last year’s state title team. “We’re pretty inexperienced. When you look at last year, we were senior heavy, and we have a lot of guys on this team that were a part of that.
“But learning how to win games like this, it’s a part of the process. You want to play your best at the end, and we talk about that all the time. We’re not close to where we think we can be, but if you can find ways to win games along the way, that’s a mark of a good team.”
Lakota West is off to its best start since 2017, when the Firebirds went 25-6 and lost to Massillon Jackson 5-1 in the state semifinals.
That was also the last time Lakota West swept Mason in the regular season.
“Our guys are locked in,” Gschwind said. “It would have been nice to have gotten this one today, but that was some good baseball being played out there.
“We’ll just keep getting better and better and see where this will eventually take us.”
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