Tinora shuts down Gibsonburg

Dylan Dorfmeyer of Gibsonburg unleashes a pitch against Tinora after coming on in relief in the Golden Bears' regional semifinal loss to the Rams.

HAMLER, Ohio -- Gibsonburg could only manage one hit in a Division IV regional semifinal game against Tinora and saw its playoff run come to an end on Thursday afternoon at Patrick Henry High School with a 9-0 loss.

"We didn't make the plays today that we needed to," Gibsonburg coach Kyle Rase said. "Tinora is a very good team, and they capitalized on some of the mistakes we made. They got out early, and it was hard to come back."

Tinora scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning off of Gibsonburg starter Logan Jones. The Rams were able to get to Jones, who won all four of the Golden Bears' previous playoff games. Tinora capitalized on three walks and belted out three hits, including RBI singles by Nate Beck and Chris Wityk and an RBI double by Casey Liska. Tyler McKenney added a sacrifice fly.

Tinora struck again in the fourth, for four more runs after three more walks from Jones and a big two-run triple by Liska.

The Rams added the ninth and final run in the fifth when an RBI single by Derek Drewes knocked in Austin Farrington who had tripled with two outs.

Jones lasted only 3⅔ innings allowing eight runs while striking out four and issuing seven walks. Leroy Neeb had the only hit for Gibsonburg with a single in the fifth.

McKenney pitched five strong innings for Tinora, giving up only one hit, while striking out six and walking two.

"Tyler [McKenney] had good stuff," Rase said. "That's right about what we heard about him. I thought we were patient early on and we hit some balls that just didn't drop. He's a nice pitcher, and that's a really nice team."

Although they came up short on Thursday, this was a historic year for Gibsonburg. The Golden Bears notched a school-record 21 wins and added a district title, defeating the number one team in the state, Hopewell-Loudon, in the district finals.

"I couldn't be more proud of my team," Rase said. "I was really happy with their focus here in the tournament. It didn't turn out the way we wanted, but I'm proud of my group of kids."

This will be a year to remember for the Gibsonburg team, especially its seven seniors.

"Going in to today there were only 16 teams out of about 200 playing, so that's something to be very proud of," Rase said. "For the seniors, it's a good accomplishment for them to leave with a school record in wins. So, nothing to be ashamed of from our guys today."