[Stardust]

LEXINGTON - While the Bishop Brossart baseball team left numerous runners in scoring position and senior starting pitcher Zach Fardo admittedly didn’t have his best stuff, both the Mustangs’ hitters and Fardo did just enough for the team to earn its first Kentucky High School Athletic Association State Tournament win.
Brossart, which had at least one runner in scoring position in all seven innings and left 12 runners on base, scored two runs in the third and two more in the fifth and Fardo allowed four hits over six innings as the Mustangs went on to beat Pikeville, 4-2, in a first-round game on Monday night at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.
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Brossart (26-12), which is appearing in its first ever KHSAA state baseball tournament, advances to play Louisville St. Xavier in a quarterfinal game at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. St. Xavier (30-11) advanced with a 4-0 win over Mercer County in a first-round game earlier on Monday.

“They have a confidence about them that they’ve picked up over the last few weeks and I don’t think they show any intimidation no matter who they play or whatever the situation is,” said Brossart head coach Ron Verst. “They’re playing hard, they’re going at teams and they’re confident with who we put on the mound.”

After Brossart failed to score in the top of the first inning despite getting leadoff batter Jared Hahn to third with one out, and then left the bases loaded without scoring in the second, Pikeville took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the second.

The Mustangs came right back to score two runs in the top of the third. The first came when junior catcher Tanner Norton doubled home sophomore shortstop Nate Verst, and the second when senior center fielder Trevor Bezold’s drive to center field went off the glove of Pikeville center fielder Jacob Burke for a three-base error allowing Norton to score easily and put Brossart on top, 2-1.

Fardo then pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the bottom of the third when he first induced Burke to pop out to first baseman Bobby Roderick and then got Reese Ward to ground to Nate Verst at short. Verst threw to second baseman Jesse Orth for the force and second and while Orth’s relay throw was late to first, Ward was also ruled out when the runner sliding into second, Jacob Hamilton, was ruled to have slid across the base and interfered with Orth.

“That was huge,” said Ron Verst. “That was a momentum boost for us. (Fardo) has battled all year for us and his teammates work hard for him.”It marked the second time in as many games that Brossart had benefitted from an umpire’s call. The Mustangs also got a hit batsmen that would have driven home the tying run for Harrison County in last Thursday’s 10th Region championship game reversed when the batter was ruled to have not attempted to get out of the way. Brossart held on to win that game, 4-3.

“We have a saying that Coach Ed Schultz (a former assistant who passed away two years ago) is looking out for us,” said Ron Verst. “We’ve had some calls go our way, but we’ll take them.”Brossart then went up 4-1 with two runs in the top of fifth. Norton led off the inning with a single and scored when Bezold tripled to the base of the wall in right center. Bezold scored two outs later on Orth’s single to deep short.

“I thought it was a pop up to right field at first and I was running around first base and I saw it kept going,” said Bezold. “We did leave a lot of people on base, but we still did enough and that was big there. After the first couple of innings it got quiet, but we got some runs and then the insurance runs and it gave us some confidence.”

Fardo, a left-hander who improved to 8-5 on the season, kept Pikeville off balance with a fastball that never got past 74 mph and then an assortment of off-speed pitches.

He retired nine in a row from the end of the third through the fifth, then gave up a run in the sixth. He allowed just four hits, one earned run, walked two and struck out four before giving way to sophomore Conner Verst, who pitched a perfect ninth and struck out two to record the save.

“I didn’t have my good stuff, but I battled out there,” said Fardo. “It was good to get the lead and we might have left a lot of guys on base, but I always look at it like if you’ve got a lead then you’re good.

“This is huge. This is the first time we’ve ever been here and first ever win here. We’re still making memorieshttp://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20120604/SPT0302/306040076/Brossart-reaches-state-quarterfinals?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports