Baseball: DeKalb ends Hampshire's run
The postseason magic that carried the Hampshire baseball team to the Class 4A regional finals disappeared on Saturday when a seventh inning rally fell short. Visiting DeKalb knocked off the Whip-Purs 3-2. Hampshire left the tying run stranded at third base and the winning run at first in the seventh inning.
Barbs' pitcher Derek Kyler wiggled off the hook with a groundball out right back to him to end the threat and earn the complete victory. Kyler handcuffed the Whip-Purs most of the game, scattering 6 hits.
“We just couldn't adjust to his breaking ball,” Hampshire coach John Sarna said. “We are a fastball hitting team and we went up there looking for fastballs to hit, but he did an effective job of getting ahead in the count with his breaking ball. There's not a lot of pitchers on this level that can do that as consistently as he did today.”
Kyler struck out 6 and walked 4.
“My curveball is my best pitch,” Kyler said. “I was able to locate it right on the outside corner and keep them off balance. When things got close at the end I just tried to stay as calm as possible and not get rattled.”
Things definitely got nerve racking in the seventh inning for Kyler and the Barbs when with 2 outs they misplayed a pop up in the infield off the bat of Hampshire's Noah Schrader that allowed Carlos Puente to score the Whip-Purs' second run.
“We can't just make it easy on me,” Dekalb coach Dedric Wright said. “Hampshire played us tough, but Derek did a great job on the mound. He's been pretty consistent for us down the stretch pitching in some big games.”
Hampshire's first run came on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning by Kyle Homa. It scored Schrader, who had walked to lead off the inning.
Whip-Purs' right-handed starting pitcher Carter Lawler pitched a valiant game. Lawler's non-throwing shoulder will require surgery after an injury last week. He allowed just 1 run through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth inning when he surrendered 2 more runs and was removed from the game.
“He wasn't ready for his season to end,” Sarna said. “He gutted it out and gave it everything he had,”
Hampshire finishes the season with a 9-27-1 record.
“I thought we could win a regional based on our schedule,” Sarna said. “There are days off against teams in our conference. That kind of competition is good preparation for the postseason. Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short today, but I'm proud the way we played.”