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05-05-2012, 12:34 AM
It was almost exactly a month ago that the Holy Cross baseball team blasted Walton-Verona, 13-3, but that result means nothing when the two teams face each other in a more meaningful game this morning.
Thatâs when they will play a quarterfinal game of the Touchstone Energy All âAâ Classic State Tournament at 9 a.m. at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington with the winner advancing to Saturday nightâs 6 oâclock semifinal game.
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The championship game is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Holy Cross (16-6), the champion of the Ninth Region, advanced to the quarterfinal with a 7-1 upset win over 12th Region champion Danville in a sectional tournament game on April 25. Danville was ranked No. 9 in the state at the time and the Indians beat standout pitcher Rob Caudill, who had just signed with Division I Davidson. The win also catapulted Holy Cross into the top 25 rankings, but the Indians have since fallen out.
Walton-Verona (20-8), the champion of the Eighth Region, advanced with an 11-4 win over Fifth Region champion Washington County in a sectional tournament game on April 25. That win was Walton-Veronaâs 10th in a row, but its winning streak ended with a 12-2 loss to Owen County on Thursday.
Walton-Verona coach Kevin McIntyre said his team has played well in almost every game all season, but played perhaps its worst game in that loss to Holy Cross on April 3.
âThey kicked our but, but we had a couple of errors, we didnât play good defense, had a couple off picked off bases, we were just awful,â said McIntyre. âAfter the game I told (Holy Cross coach Mike Holtz), âI apologize, but weâre not this bad.â We had bad day against a very good team.â
Holtz said heâs already talked to his players about that game have no relevance to Saturdayâs game.
âI think our guys have a very good amount of respect for Walton-Verona,â said Holtz. âWe could tell they were a solid team, but sometimes you just have those days. I knew that game doesnât reflect how good they are. Bottom line is we have to beat them today to advance and thatâs all that matters.â
Both teams have deep pitching staffs and both coaches said they wonât be holding anything back in hopes of âsaving,â a pitcher for either the semifinal or championship games.
Walton-Verona, which is appearing in its fourth All âAâ Classic State Tournament since its inception in 2004 did the lose the services of senior Dustin Cottrell as pitcher to injury, but he is still able to play the field and hit. Sophomore left-hander Christian Lohr, who earned the win against Washington County, is 5-1 with a 0.67 ERA, while sophomore Daniel Tilley, who shut out Eminence in the Eight Region All âAâ Classic semifinals, is 3-0 with a 0.30 ERA and sophomore Joe Sargent, who shut out Owen County in the Eighth Region All âAâ Classic championship game, is 2-1 with a 0.65 ERA.
âIf we play defense it gives us a chance to beat anybody,â said McIntyre. âWe got a lot of confidence going during the (10-game) winning streak, because we pitched well, played good defense and got some timely hitting and we came back a few times late to win games, too.â
Holy Cross, which finished as state runner-up in 2009, also has a deep pitching staff led by senior Kyle Fuller, who shut out Newport Central Catholic in the championship game of the Ninth Region All âAâ Classic, junior Blake Tiberi, who fired a no-hitter in a Ninth Region All âAâ Classic semifinal win over St. Henry and tossed a four-hitter against Danville, and senior Joe Woeste, who has a 0.64 ERA.
The Holy Cross baseball team has perhaps a little extra incentive, too, as it is three wins away from joining the football team, boysâ basketball team and volleyball team as state champions this school year.
âThe big thing is these kids know it can be done, because some of them have been on teams that have already done it and if they werenât theyâve seen it can happen,â said Holtz. âThereâs a belief we can win it. I want them to go down and enjoy the trip, but weâre going down really believing we can win the whole thing.âhttp://preps.cincinnati.com/nky
Thatâs when they will play a quarterfinal game of the Touchstone Energy All âAâ Classic State Tournament at 9 a.m. at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington with the winner advancing to Saturday nightâs 6 oâclock semifinal game.
⢠Enquirer's Recruiting Trail blog
⢠Enquirer high school sports blog
⢠Check us out on Facebook
⢠More prep coverage
The championship game is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Holy Cross (16-6), the champion of the Ninth Region, advanced to the quarterfinal with a 7-1 upset win over 12th Region champion Danville in a sectional tournament game on April 25. Danville was ranked No. 9 in the state at the time and the Indians beat standout pitcher Rob Caudill, who had just signed with Division I Davidson. The win also catapulted Holy Cross into the top 25 rankings, but the Indians have since fallen out.
Walton-Verona (20-8), the champion of the Eighth Region, advanced with an 11-4 win over Fifth Region champion Washington County in a sectional tournament game on April 25. That win was Walton-Veronaâs 10th in a row, but its winning streak ended with a 12-2 loss to Owen County on Thursday.
Walton-Verona coach Kevin McIntyre said his team has played well in almost every game all season, but played perhaps its worst game in that loss to Holy Cross on April 3.
âThey kicked our but, but we had a couple of errors, we didnât play good defense, had a couple off picked off bases, we were just awful,â said McIntyre. âAfter the game I told (Holy Cross coach Mike Holtz), âI apologize, but weâre not this bad.â We had bad day against a very good team.â
Holtz said heâs already talked to his players about that game have no relevance to Saturdayâs game.
âI think our guys have a very good amount of respect for Walton-Verona,â said Holtz. âWe could tell they were a solid team, but sometimes you just have those days. I knew that game doesnât reflect how good they are. Bottom line is we have to beat them today to advance and thatâs all that matters.â
Both teams have deep pitching staffs and both coaches said they wonât be holding anything back in hopes of âsaving,â a pitcher for either the semifinal or championship games.
Walton-Verona, which is appearing in its fourth All âAâ Classic State Tournament since its inception in 2004 did the lose the services of senior Dustin Cottrell as pitcher to injury, but he is still able to play the field and hit. Sophomore left-hander Christian Lohr, who earned the win against Washington County, is 5-1 with a 0.67 ERA, while sophomore Daniel Tilley, who shut out Eminence in the Eight Region All âAâ Classic semifinals, is 3-0 with a 0.30 ERA and sophomore Joe Sargent, who shut out Owen County in the Eighth Region All âAâ Classic championship game, is 2-1 with a 0.65 ERA.
âIf we play defense it gives us a chance to beat anybody,â said McIntyre. âWe got a lot of confidence going during the (10-game) winning streak, because we pitched well, played good defense and got some timely hitting and we came back a few times late to win games, too.â
Holy Cross, which finished as state runner-up in 2009, also has a deep pitching staff led by senior Kyle Fuller, who shut out Newport Central Catholic in the championship game of the Ninth Region All âAâ Classic, junior Blake Tiberi, who fired a no-hitter in a Ninth Region All âAâ Classic semifinal win over St. Henry and tossed a four-hitter against Danville, and senior Joe Woeste, who has a 0.64 ERA.
The Holy Cross baseball team has perhaps a little extra incentive, too, as it is three wins away from joining the football team, boysâ basketball team and volleyball team as state champions this school year.
âThe big thing is these kids know it can be done, because some of them have been on teams that have already done it and if they werenât theyâve seen it can happen,â said Holtz. âThereâs a belief we can win it. I want them to go down and enjoy the trip, but weâre going down really believing we can win the whole thing.âhttp://preps.cincinnati.com/nky
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