“I can’t believe it, to be honest,” Goodpaster said. “I knew we had the talent to get here, but there’s always bumps in the road, and you don’t always win when you’re supposed to. So it’s kind of a surreal feeling just being here.
“We’re getting hot at the right time, and our confidence is through the roof. We’re just playing to play another day. We enjoy it so much with each other. We don’t want it to end anytime soon.”
DIVISION I: Fairfield ousted by Bombers 4-1
DIVISION I: Extra baseball leads to West win
The Indians (22-9), whose lone state appearance came in 1966, will return to AIA’s Grady’s Field on Friday at 5 p.m. to face Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (22-7) for the regional title.
Carlisle coach Chris Hawkins, who was told that his program’s last regional-final appearance was a 7-4 loss to Columbus Academy in 2003, is thrilled that his players are experiencing a deep postseason run.
“Pretty cool, pretty cool,” Hawkins said. “It’s all about just getting to play another day. I was telling Goodpaster, ‘Get some ice on your arm. You’ve got to play short tomorrow.’ It’s just a good feeling to say that. We’re not packing it in or done. You get to play again.
“I’m looking forward to hanging with the kids and the coaching staff at 2:30 tomorrow, shagging balls, throwing some BP, music on at the field. We really enjoy that. You never know when it’s the last time, especially with the six seniors we’ve got.”
The Indians managed just two hits against Country Day right-hander T.J. Brock, a solo home run by Goodpaster in the first inning and a single by Caleb Stewart in the fourth.
Reece Human walked and came home on a J.J. Roberts ground out in the second inning.
“Obviously every game we expect to come in and win, but you’ve got to actually do it, and we knew this was going to be a hard game,” said Human, a senior left fielder. “It was just play our baseball. Play defense and let the hits come.
“We’re excited, and we know we’ve got work to do. We’re excited to do the work.”
CCD (21-7) and Carlisle stranded seven runners apiece. Country Day left all its runners on base in the first five frames, going six up and six down against Goodpaster after a 68-minute weather delay.
“We had our chances,” CCD coach Tim Dunn said. “I’m a little disappointed. I thought we had our quote unquote baseball players up in key situations and just didn’t get anything out of it. So we have no complaints there.”
Goodpaster wasn’t far away from the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s 125-pitch limit. Hawkins thought about the possibility of replacing him after the lengthy delay.
“First of all, I knew that if we made the change, he’d probably tear the dugout down,” Hawkins said. “But he also came to us and said, ‘Listen, I get it … I will tell you.’ He went out and tossed a bit and he’s like, ‘I think I feel like I’m more dialed in than I was before.’ I trust him. We’ve always trusted him. He’s always been a big-game player, whether it’s at shortstop or on the mound.”
“I knew my arm was fine. I wasn’t concerned about that,” Goodpaster said. “I felt like it was more of a break than a delay.”
The right-hander struck out six and walked four. Leadoff man Cameron Davis had two singles for Country Day.
“They’re a tough team, so I had to mix a lot of pitches, and I feel like I was throwing them all pretty decent,” Goodpaster said. “I struggled throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes, but the defense had my back. I felt confident just putting it over the plate and letting those guys make the plays.”
Goodpaster was a bit surprised by his home run. He pulled a Brock pitch over the right-field wall.
“He’s a good pitcher, but he missed a spot there,” Goodpaster said. “I got ahead in the count, and I was just sitting dead red like a hitter should and he gave it to me, so I took advantage of it.
“I’ve been hitting with a little more power this year. I’ve hit a few in the summer, but I’ve never quite got ahold of one like that in high school ball. I couldn’t ask for a better time to do it.”
Hawkins conceded the team won’t let him get a big head about it. “What we’re going to tell him is it was wind-aided and it was 314 down the line,” he said.
Brock, a highly regarded junior right-hander, collected four strikeouts and six walks.
“We were expecting faster because that’s what we saw online, but he was still pretty good,” Human said.
CHCA defeated Fredericktown 6-1 in Thursday’s second regional semifinal. The Eagles dropped a 4-2 decision to visiting Carlisle on May 12.
“It was a really tight ballgame, and they ended up on top of the scoreboard,” CHCA coach Tony Schulz said. “It was a rough way to go on Senior Night, but they’re a really good team.”
Schulz spent the last three seasons as Fairfield’s head coach. He’s now an assistant athletic director at CHCA.
“The whole community has welcomed me with open arms, and the guys really bought into what we were trying to install here and the attitude and the culture we were bringing,” Schulz said. “All the credit goes to them for that. I think we’re playing our best baseball right now.”
Pitching has been a strength all year for the Eagles. Schulz said he’ll choose between sophomore right-handers Clayton Brock and Max Ripperger to start on the mound Friday — Carlisle is expected to counter with senior righty Jake Glover.
Cincinnati Country Day 000-000-0—0-3-0
Carlisle 110-000-x—2-2-0
WP — Adam Goodpaster (10-1); LP — T.J. Brock (5-2); HR – CAR: Goodpaster. Records: CCD 21-7, CAR 22-9
About the Author