For one season at least, Lockwood baseball has emerged from also-ran to district champion.
The Tigers defeated nearby rival Greenfield 3-1 in the Class 1 District 6 finals Thursday night in Stockton. The victory gives Lockwood its first district baseball title since 1994 and serves as a milestone achievement for a program that had piled up losing season after losing season over the past two decades.
“They’ve been good for two years in football and basketball, but never been able to climb to that district championship,” first-year coach Larry Stuart said about his players. “So this is huge for them.”
PHOTOS: LOCKWOOD VS. GREENFIELD
Carrying the Tigers was senior and starting pitcher Ben Schnelle, who amassed staggering offensive numbers as the team’s quarterback in the fall, then led the basketball team in scoring and rebounding over the winter.
Against Greenfield, Schnelle pitched 5 innings, allowing two hits, one walk, one run (unearned) to go with six strikeouts.
“He had a big day,” Stuart said. “He had a big day at the plate against Bronaugh in the regular season, but that was in a blowout win. This was probably his best game of the season right here, both at the mound and on the plate.”
Schnelle also drove in all three of Lockwood’s runs. His 2-run single in the third put Lockwood ahead 2-1 and proved be the game-winning hit.
Afterwards, the senior admitted having the district-finals win occur against Greenfield was an added bonus.
"I'd be lying if I said it doesn't (mean more)," Schnelle said. "We grew up playing against these kids. It feels really nice."
Greenfield pushed across the game’s first run in the top of the third, as Jalen Roby’s two-out RBI single plated Jarrett Esposito, who had reached on an error.
In the bottom of the frame, three of Lockwood’s first four batters drew walks. With the bases loaded and one out, Schnelle lined a single up that middle that scored Will Beerly and Justin Nentrup.
Lockwood added an insurance run in the fifth, as Schnelle’s RBI groundout scored Nentrup. Junior Noah Standhart relieved Schnelle and pitched the final two innings for the Tigers.
As you’d expect at a Class 1 school like Lockwood, many of the Tigers play multiple sports throughout the school year. Those talents show up on the baseball diamond, Stuart said.
“We’re athletic,” he said. “We don’t have any easy outs in the lineup. We’re not necessarily baseball players, but we can put a lot of pressure on you by putting the ball in play and moving our feet.”
Senior Tristan Long got the start and pitched the first three innings for Greenfield, with Roby coming on in relief in the fourth. The Wildcats finished with just two hits in the game, both coming from Roby.
“We just couldn’t find a hole,” said Greenfield coach Nicholas Engleman. “We had a lot of hard-hit baseballs right at people. That’s baseball. A lot of times, you hit the ball hard, you’re still going to be out. That’s what makes it great, that’s what makes it frustrating, too.
“Baseball’s mean sometimes.”
The outcome denied Greenfield’s quest for a third straight district championship. But expect the Wildcats (14-9 overall) to be a contender again in 2017. Greenfield graduates just two seniors and has eight starters set to return next year.
“We’ve got a lot of guys back, they’re really young and really talented,” Engleman said. “We told them, ‘Use this as fuel.’ Losing to a rival in a district championship, that should make you hungry for the rest of the way. You could see it in their eyes – you could tell they were hurt, but they were hungry. And that’s the best part of it.”
Lockwood (16-5 overall) will host a Class 1 sectional game on Monday. The Tigers will host either Billings or Hurley, who play in the District 5 finals at 3 p.m. Thursday in Hurley.
There’s no shortage of confidence among Stuart’s squad right now.
“I’m not going to say we were cocky, but we knew we were going to win (today),” Stuart said. “We have more to do. We’re not done.”
