TOLEDO – Baseball is one of the rare sports where a team’s postseason tournament loss doesn’t necessarily mean the end of its season.
Trey Ickes
Josiah Cook
After the Fremont Ross baseball lost in the sectional tournament to Anthony Wayne, the Little Giants knew they had three games yet to play.
Coach Jared King wanted his team to use their final games to use as a springboard to the offseason and next year. He got exactly what he wanted.
The Little Giants closed out their season Thursday, winning their third game in a row to end the year, with a 3-2 victory in 11 innings over TRAC rival Whitmer.
“I gave them praise where praise was due,” King said. “It’s tough to play when there’s not necessarily something to play for, as far as the tournament or league goes. So to keep the mentality to battle, I thought they did a great job to battle the last three games.
“I wanted them to battle and send the seniors out on a great note and I think the guys bought in and were able to do that and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Chandler Ratliff
Though the Little Giants managed just four hits over 11 innings, they worked seven walks to manufacture scoring opportunities, including loading the bases twice in the first four innings.
“That says a lot about their approaches at the plate, being patient, working the count full,” King said. “We got behind in the count quite a bit today and I thought this was probably the best we’ve done battling back to get those full counts and those walks. Once we did get a few hits here and there, we were able to push a couple across.”
Ross finally broke the tie in the top of the 11th inning. With two outs, Caleb Bennison reached base on a walk. He soon thereafter stole second. Cole Druckenmiller then hit a groundball to third base but the throw to first was low and missed the mark, allowing Bennison to score what proved to be the game-winning run.
The Little Giants’ pitching was tremendous. Starter Trey Ickes was stellar for 5.2 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with five strikeouts. Ickes’ day ended earlier then King wanted it to, however, when, backing up home on a sacrifice fly, Ickes turned his ankle and was forced to leave the game.
Cole Druckenmiller then took the mound and picked up where Ickes left off. Druckenmiller threw 5.1 shutout innings, allowing five hits with three strikeouts.
Combined, Ickes and Druckenmiller pitched all 11 innings and walked zero batters.
“I was very happy with what they did. Trey threw a great game into the sixth inning,” King said
Caleb Bennison
Cole Druckenmiller
“Cole came in and did a fabulous job and kept guys off balance. They had plenty of opportunities in extra innings, getting guys on and in position to score and Cole never panicked. He made the right pitch and got us out of some sticky situations.”
The victory marked the end of three careers as seniors Ickes, Josiah Cook and Chandler Ratliff played their last games as Little Giants.
“Trey and Josiah have been playing varsity since they were sophomores, so it seems like they’ve been around forever,” King said. “They’ve definitely busted their tails for the program for four years. I made sure to thank them for all the hard work they put in. Those were two key guys for the last three years.
“Chandler was a kid who got his opportunity this year at different points and is a kid I trusted and I thought he did well tonight,” King added. “You can put him into different situations, second base or DH, and I don’t think we missed a beat whatsoever.”
The victory over the Panthers closes the Little Giants’ season at 10-16 overall, 4-10 in the TRAC. With 13 juniors returning next year as seniors, King believes Ross is on the verge of taking the next step as a program.
“It might not show with the win-loss (record) but I think we put some teams on notice,” King said. “We split with Clay, we split with Findlay, we split with Whitmer, we split with Lima. We took St. Francis in extras in both games played St. John’s tough in one appearance, played Central tough in a game.
“In being in one of the better leagues around, that’s something you can build off of and bringing back 13 juniors as seniors next year, it’s something we should look to improve on with that experience.”
2024 Baseball: Varsity Team
| Player # | Player Name | Position | Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braylon Schneider | P/INF | 11 |
| 2 | Robert Rich | P/INF | 11 |
| 3 | Cade Reineck | P/OF | 10 |
| 4 | Dominac Burkett | P/OF | 11 |
| 5 | JT Meyers | INF | 10 |
| 6 | Breylen Garza | C | 09 |
| 7 | Cayden Rodriguez | INF/OF | 10 |
| 8 | Karson Kayden | P/OF | 11 |
| 9 | Max Durnwald | P/INF | 09 |
| 10 | AJ Wallace | P/OF | 11 |
| 12 | Zavior Esquivel | P/1B | 11 |
| 13 | William Eastham | C/OF | 11 |
| 18 | Andrew fisher | P/INF | 11 |
| 19 | Cameron Joseph | P/INF | 10 |