Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charleston – The Independence bus carrying the postseason magic finally ran out of gas on it’s way to Go-Mart Park in Charleston Saturday.
After rolling through the postseason undefeated, the Patriots dug a hole they could not overcome in the Class AA state championship game.
Falling behind 5-0 after two innings, Independence fell to the Frankfort Falcons 8-0.
“If you look back through this run, we were able to score in about every first inning. Overall we have put pressure on teams, but we couldn’t ever get it turned around today,” Independence head coach Scott Cuthbert said.
The tone for the game appeared to be set in the first inning.
Independence missed on an opportunity to take the early lead when it failed to score with a pair of runners aboard and only one away.
The heartbreaker of the inning was Cole Cunningham’s liner to right field that landed in foul territory by the smallest of margins.
Frankfort, on the other hand, rarely missed on its chances throughout the game.
Aided by a misplayed fly ball in the outfield, Falcon third baseman Jaxon Hare rapped a two-out single with the bases loaded for a quick 2-0 lead.
“Getting two runs early was a big deal,” Frankfort head coach Matt Miller said. “Jaxon Hare with a huge line drive single to knock in two runs in the first got it rolling for us. After it got rolling, it just didn’t stop.”
Trouble continued to mount for the Patriots in the second inning when three straight walks set the table for the Falcons.
Jacob Nething scored the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly before Blake Jacobs raced home on a double steal.
The hero from the semifinal win, Uriah Cutter, followed with a single to place the Patriots in a 5-0 hole after two innings of play.
“That was a killer today. It is tough with high school kids. I thought that was the difference in the game,” Cuthbert said about the walks on the day. “We walked like eight or nine and seven of them scored. We just weren’t able to get ahead and they took advantage. They were able to manufacture runs when they could.”
Miller talked about his team being patient at the dish and working the count to their advantage.
“We teach patience. We hunt fastballs to hit early in the count. Our kids did a great job of working the count and getting advantage counts where you can hit the ball hard,” Miller said. “It is always part of our game plan to hunt fastballs and that is what they did today.”
The two-out damage continued for the Falcons in the third and fourth innings.
Lanson Orndorf hit an RBI-single, increasing the lead to 6-0 in the third before Hare followed suit in the fourth for his third RBI of the game.
“They are good players,” Miller said. “You don’t get here without having good players. Great players make great plays in those situation. Two-out situations are great situations and they did a great job.”
Orion Wills broke up the no-hit bid by Cam Lynch in the fifth and Micah Cuthbert followed with a single for Indy’s best threat since the first inning.
All hope went south when Lynch recorded a strikeout and started a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat.
“Great defense today,” Miller said. “(Starting pitcher) Cam Lynch made two unbelievable plays from the mound. We turned multiple double-plays. Jake Nething made a phenomenal play in the left field gap. We pride ourselves on fundamentals. We pride ourselves on good defense and they did that today.”
“They played awesome defense today. Every time it looked like we could make some noise, they would turn a double play or make a nice play in the outfield,” Cuthbert said. “Overall I thought we did a better job of putting the ball in play, they were just able to play good defense.”
Nething added to the two-out misery for Independence in the sixth when he hit a triple and scored on another double steal for .
After starting the season with only four returning players, two new players and the rest freshman, Cuthbert had nothing but praise for his team and they journey throughout the season.
“We are really proud of this group. From where they were March 1 to now is amazing. We never dreamed that we would be here,” Cuthbert said. “I didn’t think we showed awful today. It was the best group I have ever worked with. I hope the ones coming back will continue to try and get better because it is so hard to get here.”
Cole Cunningham, Degan Williams and Orion Wills were all named to the All-tournament team for the Patriots. They were joined by Herbert Hoover’s Tristan Harless, Winfield’s Karson Frye and Blake Withrow and Frankfort’s Lanson Orndorf, Blake Jacobs, Uriah Cutter, and Cam Lynch.
