District baseball: Brunswick beats Findlay in rollercoaster ride of game

BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick baseball team didn't give up from the start Wednesday in a Division I, Northeast 1 District semifinal, picking up a 13-8 win over Findlay. The ninth-seeded Blue Devils (18-8) trailed 4-0 after a half-inning, took a 7-3 lead after five innings, blew a three-run lead in the top of the sixth to find themselves tied and exploded for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull away. The sixth started with a walk by Kyle Smigla and perfect bunts from Gavin Trush and Nick Wojtala to load the bases after the 10th-seeded Trojans failed on an attempt to get the runner at third. "We worked on playing small ball all week," Wojtala said. "Each of us laid down 10 to 15 bunts in practice, so being able to get those guys over was huge, because we're really good with runners in scoring position." Then, for the second inning in a row, senior Alex Hubbell stepped to the plate and delivered, this time with a two-run double to give the Blue Devils a 9-7 lead. Hubbell threw his arms in the air in celebration after the play, something he says is abnormal. "I'm normally not a big guy for celebration. I don't show emotion like that," the All-Ohio pick said. "It was kind of a year-long thing like this could potentially be your last game, and you don't want it to be and it's when you look at the dugout and all those guys are all fired up, you just want to keep playing with those guys. You want to go to practice with them again tomorrow. You don't want it to be over yet. And all that emotion just comes out at once. And, man, that felt really good." Brunswick loaded the bases again, and this third baseman Elijah Poindexter helped make sure the Blue Devils would be practicing today and playing top-seeded Massillon Jackson in the district final on Friday at Bob Cene Park in Struthers, as he sent a towering grand slam to left-center field for a 13-7 lead. "I started off the count 0-1, and then he just threw me a perfect fastball — low and maybe a little bit up and inside," Poindexter said. "It felt great coming off the barrel." The game didn't start off so well for Brunswick, as the Trojans got to starter Kayden Draiss for four runs in the first inning on three hits, a walk and an error. Instead of hanging their heads, the Blue Devils went to work in their half of the first and drew six walks off Findlay starter Landon Echelberry, which led to three runs and Echelberry only getting two outs before his day on the mound was done. "When it was 4-0, it looked grim," Wojtala said. "It's rainy, it's crappy, but then as soon as (Echelberry) gets on the mound, he's dealing with the same thing so that was like a spark for us, seeing that we're not the only team dealing with the conditions." Brunswick took its first lead in the fifth, scoring three runs to go up 7-4 on a single by Hubbell and a two-run double by Zach Callahan. Findlay came back to tie in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs on an error and tying it on an RBI double by Jacob Gebhardt that ended the day for Draiss, who went 5 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs, three earned, on 10 hits, two walks and a pair of strikeouts. Callahan came in to relieve Draiss and struck out Echelberry to end the inning, setting up the Blue Devils for triumph in the bottom of the sixth. He picked up the win, going 1 1/3 innings and allowing one unearned run on one hit and one walk while striking out three. After starting the season 2-5, the Blue Devils have now won 16 of their last 19 games. One of the main reasons for that has been more success at the plate in the clutch, something they struggled with early. "It's more of an approach thing," Hubbell said. "I feel like we were almost pushing. We were stressing and trying to do too much in big situations. Now we're just kind of letting the game come to us. It's one through nine throughout the whole lineup. Everybody's getting big hits when we need to, and that's why we're winning games." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Brunswick 13, Findlay 8 Division I, Northeast 1 District Semifinal FINDLAY&emsp;400 003 1 — 8 11 2 BRUNSWICK&emsp;301 036 x — 13 10 4 WP — Zach Callahan 1 1/3 innings, 1 run, 0 earned, hits, walk, 3 strikeouts. LP — Reece Stillings 1/3 inning, 4 runs, 4 earned, 2 hits, walk, strikeout. Findlay (17-7) — Jacob Gebhardt 2 singles, double, RBI, run; Landon Echelberry single, double, run; Reece Stillings 2 singles. Brunswick (18-8) — Nick Wojtala 2 singles, walk, hit by pitch, 3 runs; Alex Hubbell 2 doubles, walk, 3 RBIs, 3 runs; Zach Callahan single, 2 walks, 2 RBIs, run; Elijah Poindexter single, grand slam, walk; Gavin Trush 2 singles, RBI, run.