The noise the Rams embraced in Tuesday’s Division III region semifinal was the repeated pings off their metal bats in a five-hit, seven-run second inning. That early eruption was the catalyst in the Rams’ six-inning 12-2 victory over Monroe at Miami University’s Hayden Park.
After celebrating the victory of the moment, the Rams will focus on Wednesday’s practice, then Thursday’s 2 p.m. region final against Vandalia Butler.
There will be no discussion of being one step away from next week’s state tournament in Akron. No talk of making up for the last at-bat, 3-2 loss in the Division II state final last June. And the celebration of Treadway’s 300th victory Tuesday as Badin’s coach was short and sweet after the game.
“We’re playing as one,” said first baseman Kade Bowling who had three hits and three RBIs. “We’re not looking ahead, and every day is the most important day of our season.”
In the past, Treadway said some teams talked about the future too much. Now he has two certified mental performance coaches on his staff focused on keeping the team focused on the present.
“I can’t even tell you how much we talk about it, but it is something that we’ve invested in as a program because it’s that important,” Treadway said.
The Rams fell behind 1-0 in the top of the second. Monroe’s Nolan Craig bunted two runners into scoring position, then scored on Keegan O’Hara’s ground out.
“I’m glad they got ahead early in the game,” Treadway said. “That was good for us to feel that adversity and see how we responded.”
Badin’s big inning began after Dawson Watts retired the leadoff man on a groundout. Then Cooper Ollis and Chandler Taylor singled to put pressure on the Hornets.
A walk loaded the bases. Then came the runs: Kyle Anderson two-run single, Eli Wolpert bases-loaded walk, Austin Vangen’s RBI groundout, Bowling’s two-run single and Chase Luebbe’s RBI single.
“We saw the pitcher from the first inning, and we communicated back to the guys that didn’t hit,” Bowling said. “We had a plan, and we executed that plan.”
Bowling’s triple made the score 9-2 in the fourth. In the sixth, Taylor singled home a run and pinch-hitter Colton Emerson ended the game with a two-run double.
“I said before the game playing on turf is going to make them faster, and some of their hits in the second inning were dinks and dunks,” Monroe coach Ed Beck said. “Now don’t get me wrong, they hit it, but they didn’t hit it hard in the gap. It was just the right spot at the right time for timely hitting.”
Badin was happy to take advantage of the fast surface and get out of the hot sun with the next game two days away.
“If you hit a single it’s going skip and it’s going to run, and that’s all you need to do,” Bowling said. “You just need to put the ball in play and it’ll go hard.”
And play the game pitch by pitch.
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