With Kenston trailing 2-0 in the top of the seventh, casual observers at Canal Park must have thought Chaminade Julienne would be playing in the state championship game the next day.
With Kenston trailing 2-0 in the top of the seventh, casual observers at Canal Park must have thought Chaminade Julienne would be playing in the state championship game the next day.
But Kenston players, coaches and fans scripted a different ending.
They believed that they could win.
The Bombers rallied for four runs in a thrilling top-of-the-seventh-inning to defeat Chaminade, 4-2, and punch their ticket to compete for the championship.
With one out in the inning, senior Parker Munday came to the plate and lined a single to left field.
As Munday crossed first base and there was a time-out on the field, he looked over to his teammates in the dugout and pumped his fist.
Perhaps that combination of hit and fist pump bolstered the Bombers’ confidence, because what happened next will be considered a classic Kenston sports moment for decades to come.
After a pop-up for the first out, Bridger Bischof came to the plate and hit a line-drive single to left field, which moved Munday to second.
After a pitching change, Kenston’s left fielder Avery Siperke drew a walk. Beclay then pinch-ran for Siperke.
With the bases loaded and only one out, Flynn came up to bat next and hit a line-drive to center field, which scored Munday and Bischof, tying it up 2-2.
Flynn explained that his teammates never stopped believing they could win.
“It was a big inning, obviously a big momentum shift there,” Flynn said. “We talked in the dugout, we said ‘we’re not done yet.’ We still got a chance, we still got a life in this game.
“The guys did their job, they got on, and we were able to score some runs, get Munday some support going into the bottom of the seventh.”
After the tying runs, the Bombers still had runners on first and third when junior catcher LA Mighton came to the plate.
With Mighton at bat, Flynn stole second.
Mighton then singled to left field, and the Bombers scored the go-ahead run to take the lead, 3-2.
The rally was not over, either.
Kenston was looking for insurance runs to cement its spot in the championship game.
Again, Flynn came through in the clutch.
With runners on the corners, the Chaminade pitcher threw over to first base. As this occurred, Flynn sprinted for home. With a head-first slide, Flynn beat the first baseman’s throw to the plate by an instant to make it 4-2.
“On the first-to-third play, we scouted that kid pretty well,” Head Coach Joe Hritz said. “A phenomenal pitcher, but he was a little slower to first base, so we knew as soon as he went to pick off, we were taking home.”
After the rally Munday pitched a scoreless bottom-of-the-seventh to lead Kenston to the OHSAA Division II State Championship Game.
For the game, Munday threw a complete game, striking out 12 and only giving up two hits.
“I mean, I knew we had it in us, and we definitely showed that we could compete with anyone in the state,” Munday said. “Going into that last inning, we showed we could hit the ball no matter who’s pitching. (Chaminade’s Jackson) Frasure threw a great game, but it wasn’t enough to shut us down.”
