Sunday, June 06, 1999

Elder wins its title for the decade

---

Panthers win another state baseball crown

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Elder coach Mark Thompson, right, and players celebrate. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

SET AS WALLPAPER: Click here for bigger image, then right click to Set As Wallpaper

        CANTON, Ohio — The Streak lives. Elder won its first state baseball championship of the 1990s on its last chance.

        The trophy will go next to the ones from the 1940s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s, extending the string of at least one state title to six consecutive decades.

        The Panthers won the Division I title over Cuyahoga Falls 4-2 Saturday at Thur man Munson Stadium in a game filled with drama and defense — both good and bad. Elder blew a pair of one-run leads and a half-dozen rallies.

        The Streak twisted in the wind with each turn of the game. Elder could easily have gone home without a title, thanks to opportunities lost.

        But the Panthers didn't. The team that finished third in its league wasn't about to settle for second in the state.

        “We stepped up when we had to,” said catcher Aaron Brown. “We deserve this.”

        Indeed, they do.

Jeff Lammers is greeted by teammates after driving in the winning runs. | ZOOM |

SET AS WALLPAPER: Click here for bigger image, then right click to Set As Wallpaper

        “The tradition rolls on,” said left fielder Jeff Lammers.

        The game came down to the final inning. After Lammers gave Elder a two-run lead with a single in the top of the ninth, relief ace Dan Bachman closed it in the bottom of the inning.

        Bachman, a junior left-hander, ended it by striking out Jeff Horne on three pitches with the tying runs on first and second.

        “It's an unbelievable feeling,” Elder coach Mark Thompson said. “That's kind of game you want in the state finals.”

        This title was the 11th overall for the Panthers. No other school has more than six. But it was their first since 1984 and the first for Thompson in 10 years as coach.

        That drought, along with the The Streak being on the line, put tremendous pressure on this team.

Anthony McClarnon scores the final run in the seventh inning. | ZOOM |

        “Most schools hope to win,” Thompson said. “At Elder, they expect to win. That's the mentality of the school and of these kids.”

        The title came two weeks after the Elder volleyball team won the state title. It's the first time Elder has won two teamtitles in the same season.

        Expectations with baseball are the greatest because of all that history. Since winning its first title in 1943, Elder had never gone as long as 14 years without one.

        People in Price Hill were getting impatient, and expectations only grew after the regionals. Elder has won 11 times in 17 trips to the Final Four.

        “That's tough to carry,” said Elder Athletic Director Dave Dabbelt. “I'm sure Mark felt pressure because he's been here 10 years and hadn't won it. That's what makes this team so great. They weren't supposed to win anything.”

        The team seemed to thrive on that.

        “I think we fulfilled our destiny,” Lammers said. “We had confidence in ourselves.”

        That confidence would be tested many times Saturday. Consider:

        • Elder's second, fourth and fifth innings ended in double plays.

        • The Panthers had two runners thrown out at third and one at home.

        • A runner representing the go-ahead run was picked off in the seventh.

        “We wanted to put pressure on them,” Thompson said. “They made some big plays.”

        Elder took a 1-0 lead in the third. Kyle Robbins scored from first on Brown's single and a throwing error by Falls short stop Josh Lancy. Brown, however, was thrown out trying to go to third.

        Falls tied it at 1-1 in its half of the third with a single, a sacrifice and sacrifice fly off Elder starter Alex Morano.

        Elder took the lead back in the fourth on pinch-hitter Kevin Weller's RBI single.

        The inning, however, ended when Robbins stung a line drive that third baseman Zach Smith picked off and turned into a double play.

        If the ball got by Smith, it would have broken the game open instead of ending the inning.

        Another Elder rally fizzled in the fifth. The Panthers loaded the bases with two walks and a single. But Lammers grounded to first baseman Jim Lipinski. He threw home to catcher Drew Kaser for the force.

        Lammers beat Kaser's throw back to first, but Matt Wabnitz was thrown out trying to score from second on the play.

        “We would get the door open,” Thompson said, “but we couldn't break through.”

        “I was getting frustrated,” Lammers said. “We had a lot of opportunities, but we couldn't get the big hit. I was hoping to get a second chance.”

        He would, of course, but that's getting ahead of the story.

        Cuyahoga Falls tied it at 2-2 in the fifth, without the benefit of a hit. After Morano walked two batters, Bachman, who had pitched 2ô innings Thursday, came on in relief.

        But he walked the first man he faced, and Lipinski drove in the run with a fielder's choice. Bachman then struck out the leadoff batter, Mark Miller. Lancy, who had eight homers this year, crushed a ball to left-center, but Elder's Richie Jones ran it down and made an over-the-shoulder catch.

        By this time, Cuyahoga had its ace lefty, Jeremy Durkee, on the mound.

        He struck out Jones to start the inning. Wabnitz followed with a single. But he was picked off.

        Brown then singled. Anthony McClarnon walked. That brings us to Lammers' second chance.

        “I was looking for a fastball all the way,” Lammers said.

        He found it and lashed to center.

        “That was a huge hit,” Thompson said.

        Center fielder Horne tried to pick the ball off the turf in a rush to get Brown, but he didn't get his glove down enough. The ball kicked away.

        Brown and McClarnon scored.

        It was 4-2, and Bachman's game.

        “We knew it was going to come down to him,” Thompson said. “He didn't have his good breaking ball today. He had to gut it out with his fastball today.”

        After Bachman threw the final fastball past Horne to end it, the celebration was on.

        “This is the best feeling I've ever had,” Lammers said. “It's probably the best feeling I ever will have.”

        Thompson, a graduate of Western Hills High (which has five titles of its own), was feeling pretty good, too.

        “This is a great day for Elder community, for Price Hill and Western Hills,” he said. “This is what we set out to do. We said, "Where do you want to be on June 5?' This isn't the most talented group of kids. But it's the best group I've even been around — every one of them ... They got better everyday.”

        By Saturday, they were good enough to be the best.

       

---

Sports Stories

Like it or not, interleague play succeeding Time cannot fade Jack's legend It's Tiger's tournament to lose No. 1-ranked Duval climbs leaderboard Charismatic injured at wire Elder wins its title for the decade Big hits propel Madeira to first championship Two Cincinnati boys win track titles Vianello's silver highlights local performances OHIO BOYS TRACK RESULTS OHIO GIRLS TRACK RESULTS OHIO HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS CINCINNATI HIGH SCHOOL COLUMN LaRosa's picks six finalists Enquirer news services St. Henry only needs 4 to win boys track title Bishop Brossart wins 3rd straight track title KENTUCKY BOYS TRACK RESULTS KENTUCKY GIRLS TRACK RESULTS Latin's Rahali overpowered in tennis final N.KY. HIGH SCHOOL COLUMN NewCath wins 10th Region baseball crown

REDS 7, ROYALS 4 (2ND)
Box, runs (2nd)
REDS 9, ROYALS 4
Box, runs (1st)
REDS NOTEBOOK