District baseball: Good hitting, good pitching give Buckeye five-inning win over Rocky River

YORK TWP. — The lesson when the Buckeye baseball team defeated Rocky River 10-0 in five innings in a Division III, Northeast 6 District quarterfinal Thursday might have been to be careful what you wish for. Senior pitcher Tyler Heers shut down the 17th-seeded Pirates, while the ninth-seeded Bucks offense gave him more than enough support. Heers (6-3) pitched all five innings, allowing just five hits and two walks while striking out seven, including three in the fourth inning. "I knew coming in that they were going to be aggressive and swing a lot," Heers said. "I just went in with the mindset to throw strikes, let my defense work behind me, and it worked out really well today." Buckeye (18-9) loaded the bases in the first inning without scoring, but that was just a preview of what was to come. The Bucks scored three runs in the second, five in the third and two in the fifth to end the game by mercy rule. "Compared to last year's team, we're a different team who likes to put the ball in play," senior outfielder Logan Brown said. "When we're putting the ball in play, I feel like we're kind of unbeatable and we can beat any team, and it kind of all starts from how we hit and how we approach." The approach Thursday was aggressive, as Brown went 3-for-3 with a double, home run, walk and three RBIs. "Lately I've kind of been struggling a little bit," Brown said. "But especially when it comes to these environments, especially with this group of guys, this whole year, we've been close, so not only like doing this makes me feel good, but I know it helps the whole entire team and generates them to get going." The Bucks started the scoring in the second inning when Avery Conde led off with a walk and Rees Perkins singled two batters later. Zach Seeley followed by hitting a ball that was misplayed by the shortstop, allowing Conde to score. Two hitters later, Seeley was nearly picked off first but got into a rundown, allowing Perkins to score from third. Seeley was safe at second, where he then scored on a single by Brown. Junior Zach Stough led off the third with a walk that was followed by back-to-back-bunt singles by Conde and Aaron Hamman, with Stough scoring on Hamman's bunt. "The two bunts, those are huge," Brown said. "Those kept the inning rolling." With two outs and two runners on, Shane Metter plated two runs with a double. Then Brown stepped to the plate again. On the second pitch, Brown connected and sent a ball deep over the left-field fence into the fading sun for a two-run homer. Brown hesitated for a moment, as he lost the ball in the sun and wasn't sure if it was enough to leave the park, but he fed off the home crowd as he rounded the bases to make it 8-0. "I hit it and I was like, 'Oh, that felt good,'" Brown said. "As soon as I hit that, a whole bunch of emotions just came in. I love these moments. I kind of live for these moments. I always tell my teammates I love when a lot of people come, it's loud and stuff, it's a lot more fun. So when I hit that and was jumping around the bases, that's just my energy. I'm trying to kind of give that off to everybody else." Buckeye ended the game with two runs in the fifth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Jeff Costigan hit a ball to third base that was thrown over the head of the first baseman for an error, allowing Perkins and Seeley to score. When the brackets were drawn for the postseason May 10, Rocky River (12-13) jumped into the bracket with its Cleveland West Conference foe. That wasn't overlooked by the Bucks. "When we found out that they came at us, we kind of took a little personally," Heers said. "We definitely wanted to come out here and really show them what we have. So, we are really happy that we did that today." Buckeye will have a few days off to prepare for the district semifinals, when the Bucks will host No. 12 Alliance on Tuesday. The Bucks will enjoy Thursday's win but know that they will need to be ready. "This feels good now, but we kind of have to keep it short term," Brown said. "(We need to) keep that short memory and going at each game like it's our last, because at this point it is our last game. So that's what's important." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Buckeye 10, Rocky River 0 (5 inn.) Division III, Northeast 6 District Quarterfinal ROCKY RIVER&emsp;000 00 — 0 5 3 BUCKEYE&emsp;035 02 — 10 9 0 WP — Tyler Heers (6-3) 5 innings, 5 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts. LP — Kyle Rush 3 innings, 8 runs, 5 earned, 8 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts. Rocky River (12-13). Buckeye (18-9) — Logan Brown single double, home run, walk, 3 RBIs, run; Zach Seeley single, walk, RBI, 2 runs; Shane Metter double, 2 RBIs, run; Jeff Costigan 2 walks; Avery Conde single, walk, 2 runs; Rees Perkins 2 singles, run.