photo by: Andrew Grimm

Photo by Andrew Grimm The Toronto Red Knights baseball team, pictured after winning the OVAC 2A baseball championship against River on Saturday in the Edison Unified Sports Complex.

RICHMOND — Another OVAC trophy is coming back to the Gem City.

The Toronto baseball team rallied back from a fifth inning deficit and then held off River for a 6-5 victory in a battle of state ranked teams in the Class 2A title game on Saturday afternoon at the Edison Unified Sports Complex, lifting the Red Knights to a third-consecutive conference title.

“It’s pretty special,” Toronto head coach Brian Perkins said of the three-peat. “Our kids showed the resilience of a winner and I could not be more proud of them. To represent the community of Toronto in the OVAC is something special and we always enjoy coming here and competing in a first class tournament.

After the third seeded Pilots (12-6, No. 10 in Division VII) had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the firth, the Red Knights (16-2, No. 2 in Division VI) rallied right back in the bottom half, playing three runs too re-take the lead. Adding one to the lead in the sixth proved to be vital.

“That was huge,” Perkins said of responding right back. “We pulled the kids in and told them that champions come back. They threw their punch and we threw ours. I could not be more proud of these kids.

“It’s a good win for us against a really good River team that’s well coached. It’s always nice to get titles and win championships. It’s a confidence booster with the tournament coming up for sure.”

River, trailing 6-3 going to the seventh inning, got the first three batters of the inning on base to load them up and have the tying run aboard, then a run scored on a wild pitch and M Marty hit an RBI single, making it a one run ball game with no one out.

Perkins turned to senior Michael Henry out of the bullpen with runners on the corners and no one out, and he got a ground ball right back at him, then made a heads up play to start a double play. Then, the senior right hander struck out the last batter to seal the deal on the save.

Drake Bouscher ended up with the win, striking out six and walking three in six-plus innings.

“Drake did a heck of a job, he was mixing up his pitches very well and keeping them off balance,” Perkins said. “He got a little tired at the end. I can’t say enough about Michael coming into a tough situation and getting us out of it. It was just a real great day for us on the mound all around.

“The double play was a heads up play, we work on that in practice and he did a good job of checking the runner, sticking the throw and we were able to turn it. It was a great play, and we were able to keep the runner at third from scoring.”

Bouscher and Henry both made key contributions at the plate. Bouscher, who was named the game’s MVP, finished 4 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. Henry drove in two runs. Catcher Caiden McGrath also had a big day, finishing 3 for 4 with a double.

It was Boucher’s two-out RBI double in the sixth that ended up being the hit that scored the eventual winning run. The three-run fifth was capped by a Chase Heckathorn RBI single after an error and a groundout had also plated runs.

Toronto also held a 2-1 lead earlier in the game on a play you don’t see all that often — a sac fly to score a runner from second base. Heath Thomas lined a shot to center and the Pilots outfielder made a fantastic diving catch, but the process took long enough for Bouscher to tag up and race around third. Initially it was ruled the catch had not been made, but a conference of the umps resulted in it being ruled a catch by Wyatt Stadler and a good tag up.

The Red Knights cut down a run at the plate in the top of the fourth on a great throw from Newbold in left, but an inning later River did break through with a pair of runs, a Cooper Roberts two-run single after a two-out error giving the Pilots a momentary lead.

“It was a super good game, I’m super proud of my guys for playing as hard as they did against a really good team,” River head coach Matt Abbott said. “Toronto is always a tough team, coach Perkins runs one of the best programs in the state of Ohio. For us to compete with them like we did I’m proud of the kids.

“Seeing a team like that, the pitching they have, will prepare us for the tournament.”

Kaden Hunt had eight strikeouts in six innings for the Pilots on the mound, also doubling and plating a run.

Maverick Marty and Roberts each had two hits and an RBI, while Easton Huntsman and Gauge Bayes both had a pair of hits for River.

UP NEXT

River: Has another tough match up against a state-ranked opponent on Monday visiting Barnesville, ranked No. 7 in Division V.

Toronto: Hosts Youngstown East on Monday.