HAMLER — All the free passes finally caught up to Plymouth.
Big Red pitchers walked 10 Antwerp batters and hit three more in an 11-1 loss to the Archers in a Division IV regional semifinal game Thursday at Patrick Henry’s Garrold Parratt Field.
Plymouth (19-8) won a district title last week despite walking 19 hitters in two games. The Big Red issued nine free passes in a district semifinal win over Buckeye Central and 10 more in a 6-5 win over South Central in the district final.
“That’s kind of been our Achilles heel all year long,” Plymouth coach Jake Strayer said. “Walks and errors will kill you.”
Antwerp (18-5) jumped out to the early lead in the top of the first when leadoff hitter Chase Clark doubled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Parker Parker Moore’s sacrifice fly.
The Big Red answered in the home half of the first, taking advantage of an Antwerp error. Nick Roberts reached on a one-out error, went from first to third on a passed ball and scored on Zeth Goth’s groundout to second.
Antwerp took the lead for good in the third, scoring three runs on four hits. Aiden Lichty had a run-scoring single, while Eli Reinhart stroked a two-out, two-run single.
The Archers added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings before blowing it open in the top of the seventh. Antwerp sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs.
“They got timely hits, which are big in baseball,” Strayer said. “We put a whole lot of guys on with free passes.”
Plymouth was led by Trace McVey, who was 2-for-2 with a walk. Shae Sparks doubled in three trips to the plate while Roberts and Carson Tucker were each 1-for-3.
Clark and Ethan Lichty each had two hits for the Archers. Parker Moore doubled, drove in a run and scored three runs.
Antwerp will play Van Wert Lincolnview for the regional title and a berth in next week’s Division IV state tournament at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Patrick Henry. Lincolnview beat Leipsic 8-1 in Thursday’s nightcap.
Strayer recently announced he would step down to accept a teaching and assistant coaching position at Clyde. He led Plymouth to the regional championship game in 2018, his first season.
“It’s bittersweet for me,” Strayer said. “We ended it the same way we started it. This is my last game here and to end it the same way we started it, it’s special.
“I’m extremely proud of those kids and…extremely proud of the culture they have started to set here.”
