FREMONT — Evergreen had a forgettable start to Friday’s Division VI district championship baseball game, going down 1-2-3 to begin the game and trailing by three runs through a scoreless three innings.
But the Vikings, who had not allowed a run through two tournament games, were not fazed by the deficit to top-seeded Gibsonburg and, instead, put together a near-perfect inning in response.
Evergreen cut the deficit to one run in the fourth inning and followed with a game-changing fifth inning, batting through the order and racing to a 10-6 win over the Golden Bears to claim a district title.
“We started in November, 6 a.m., they’re looking at us like we’re crazy. What are we doing here? And now you see some of these kids and the smiles on their faces and they understand that that’s what it takes to get here,” Evergreen coach Chris Owens said.
“You know, it takes 6 a.m. workouts, getting strong, bigger, faster, stronger. And you know, to compete against a team like that, you have to be able to go seven innings.”
Evergreen, which improved to 14-10 overall, continues tournament play at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Colonel Crawford at Patrick Henry’s Garrold Parratt Field for a regional semifinal.
The game changed for the Vikings in the fifth inning, ignited by a one-out walk by JJ Johnson.
From there, seemingly everything looked perfect for Evergreen, from the line-drive swings to the aggressive base running.
Colton Robertson ripped a single to right-center and Johnson went from first to third.
With two outs, the Vikings rallied to score six runs, sparked by Bryce Bolger’s two-RBI single to left field, with Bolger taking second on the throw home.
Bolger then created his own run, stealing third on a low pitch and continuing home after an errant throw.
Chris Shrader kept the rally going with a single up the middle and Blake Boucher knocked him home with a line-drive single to right field.
Troy Manz and John Herdman also followed with singles and Austin Burghardt, who led off the frame, capped the scoring with a bloop single over second base to drive in a run for an 8-3 lead.
“That’s a kudos to these kids. We work on that a lot in practice. I think sometimes they get mad when we have three-hour practices and you know, everyone else is at home. But those are the little things that we’re working on,” Owens said. “You have to be a master of the little things because in a game like that, it is a little thing that’s gonna make the difference.”
Evergreen scored one run apiece in the sixth and seventh innings, scoring on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the sixth before an RBI swing by Robertson in the seventh pushed the score to the 10-6 final.
Six players had multiple hits for the Vikings, led by Robertson, Shrader and Burghardt with three hits and one RBI apiece. Bryce Bolger had two hits and two RBI.
Manz steadied Evergreen on the mound, bouncing back from three early-game runs to keep Gibsonburg at three runs through his five innings.
Manz allowed three runs and six hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
“Troy’s the ultimate competitor. You have to be around him to appreciate him,” Owens said. “… First time I ever saw Troy Manz was at that game (tournament basketball game against Otsego) and the kid was everywhere and just a competitor. I don’t know how many points he had, but just all the stuff that happened away from the ball, he was just in it and that’s what you see when he’s on the mound.”
Robertson pitched the seventh inning, walking one batter and striking out the side to seal the win.