The Trinity Catholic baseball team saw its strong season end Tuesday in Spearville during the Class 2-1A regional semifinals, falling 9-8 in eight innings to Stanton County.
Trinity, the No. 3 seed in Region 4, finishes the season 18-4.
six-seed Stanton County used a consistent hitting attack to put the Celtics on their heels throughout the game, as Stanton County outhit Trinity 12-5. The Trojans scored in six of the eight innings, had at least one hit in seven innings, and never trailed. Stanton County actually led after it hit in seven of the eight innings.
Trinity Catholic, however, battled all afternoon. Down 3-1in the bottom of the second inning, the Celtics pieced together a two-out rally. Gavin Scott was hit by a pitch, and Bryan Maya worked a walk. Kaid McElgunn singled home Scott, and a throwing error allowed Maya to score, tying the game 3-3.
But Stanton County responded with one run in the third inning and two in the fourth, chasing starting pitcher Sam Vogel. Drew Dechant came in relief and gave the Celtics a chance to come back by allowing two runs in the next three innings.
Trinity scored a run in the fourth inning and two in the fifth, with Dechant’s sacrifice fly scoring Vogel, cutting the deficit to 8-6. The next inning, Vogel hit a two-run home run to right-center field, his first of the season, and tying the game 8-8. But after Dechant followed with a single, Stanton County pitcher David Crane retired the final eight batters he faced to get the win.
Stanton County scored in the eighth inning on one-out error and then an RBI single by Gerardo Robles.
