LANCASTER — Fredericktown senior Kaid Carpenter emerged from the dugout Wednesday, walked to the third base line, and stood completely still, facing the outfield.
The game was over. It had ended moments earlier, when Heath pitcher Tannar Patterson struck out his 10th and final batter of the night, delivering the Bulldogs their first district title since 2011 and sending Fredericktown, winners of five straight district titles, home as runners-up.
Carpenter, a three-year starter (his freshman season was canceled due to the pandemic), appeared stunned. This was it – the last time he’d walk off a diamond wearing Fredericktown scarlet and grey. Years of blood, sweat and tears – the dream of heading back to regionals, and maybe going further – put to rest, just like that.
He stood there for about 10 seconds, staring blankly into the distance as the sun began to set over the Fairfield County hills.
In that moment, it’s all he could do.
“Our nine seniors have set a standard for us,” Fredericktown head coach Ryan Hathaway said. “And, you know, we’ve been here six straight years. That’s not something that happens at a lot of places. It’s tough to even get to this point, and I’m proud of them for getting here.
“They left it better than what they found it, and (they’ll leave) big shoes to fill next year.”
Heath beat Fredericktown, 3-1, on Wednesday at Beavers Field in Lancaster. The Bulldogs (20-8), seeded fifth in the Division III Central District, overcame an early 1-0 deficit to knock off the top-seeded Freddies (25-2), who entered the postseason ranked second in the state after spending several weeks in Ohio’s top spot.
The loss brought to an end Fredericktown’s winningest season in program history, as the Freddies surpassed the previous record of 24 wins (set in 2012 and matched in 2021) Monday with a 5-4 victory over Liberty Union in the district semifinals.
Fredericktown won its fifth straight Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference title this season, finishing undefeated in league play. The Freddies started the season 15-0, suffering their first and only regular season loss April 27 at St. Francis DeSales, which will play for a Division I district title Thursday.
Heath will face Waynesville in the regional semifinals next Thursday at 5 p.m. at Wright State University’s Nischwitz Stadium. The Bulldogs, who finished tied for second in the Licking County League this spring and entered the postseason ranked 20th in the Division III state poll, are one of 16 teams remaining statewide.
“We still have a bunch of young kids. … We have seven or eight guys that have been starting for three years now, so we knew we were gonna be pretty good. But when you’ve never been in situations like this, you never know how you’re gonna perform. And our guys performed just the way you need to perform,” Heath head coach Tom Warren said Wednesday.
“We’ve been in some big games recently and some big moments, and I told the kids, ‘The only way we can get better at big moments is to be in ’em.’ And we were in ’em tonight and performed just the way that they needed to. I’m very proud of them.
“You know, any time you win a Central District in baseball, anything can happen after this point. We were fortunate that we got a five-seed. We were fortunate enough to get a bye and then play at home (twice) and make it down here. So hopefully we’re just catching our footing now and we’ll see how things go.”
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