Park Hill’s Jaxson Grayson performs a bunt in the Trojans’ 5-4 district loss to Staley at Creekside Baseball Complex on May 16.
For a brief moment in the seventh inning, it looked like the Park Hill baseball team (12-18) pulled off an upset over third-seeded Staley (23-14) in the opening round of the Class 6 District 8 Tournament at Creekside Baseball Complex on May 16.
Park Hill was the No. 6 seed and entered the final inning of regulation down 3-2. Travis Porter and Jaxon Grayson were on base with two outs and the Trojans had one last chance to tie or take the lead.
Braydan Resch stepped up to the plate and the senior delivered, tying the game with a clutch RBI single on a line drive to left field. Tyson Kiser was walked on the next at-bat, loading the bases.
Garrison Mertz rose to the occasion, connecting with a ground ball single and Porter scored the go-ahead run. Maxx Houchins struck out and the Falcons went into the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 4-3.
Jase Johnson was on the mound to start the seventh consecutive inning and struck out the first two Staley batters. It went downhill for Park Hill from that point as Johnson hit the ensuing batter and Kiser had an error on a batted ball.
The Falcons made the most of their extra opportunities, tying the game on a single. Mertz came in to relieve Johnson and the senior only had a chance to throw two pitches.
Jackson Glueck was the batter and after Mertz threw a ball, the Falcon had the game-winning base hit – a line drive to left field – to end the contest and the Trojans’ season, 5-4. The Falcons went on to upset second-seeded Liberty (24-14) in the district semifinals on May 18 and lost to top-seeded Liberty North (31-17) in the district championship on May 19.
The game started off slow, with only one run being scored in the first three innings. Staley went up 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning and Park Hill went ahead in the fourth inning.
Mertz and Houchins had back-to-back triples and Logan Hampton had an RBI double later in the inning. The Falcons had two doubles in the bottom of the fifth inning and capitalized on a Trojan error to take a 3-2 lead.
Resch and Mertz were responsible for half of Park Hill’s hits as the duo both had two. Johnson had eight strikeouts on the day as the Trojans’ first season under John Davis came up just shy of a postseason win.