SHELBY, Ohio — It wasn’t how Lucas wanted to bow out, but not even Wednesday’s run rule-shortened 11-1 loss to New London in the Division IV district semifinals could tarnish what was a breakthrough season.
The Cubs (10-17) doubled their win total from a year ago and won a sectional championship for the first time since 2005. No. 9 seed Lucas upset No. 6 South Central and No. 5 Buckeye Central in last week’s sectional tournament.
“For years, people have looked past Lucas,” coach Hank Webb said. “We went from five wins to 10 wins and a sectional championship. We’re very excited about the future of the program.”
First Blood: Lucas struck first Wednesday, scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Jeb Grover led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and stole third before coming home on a Sam Davis single.
“We were the visiting team in both of our sectional games and it was a recipe that worked for us,” Webb said. “We felt good about getting that run in the first, but we wanted to keep adding on. Against a good team like New London, we knew one run wasn’t going to be enough.”
The top-seeded Wildcats (21-3) took the lead for good with a pair of unearned runs in the third. No. 9 hitter Dane Mathews reached on an error to lead off the inning and eventually scored on a Nate Thomas ground ball. Thomas would score on a sacrifice fly by clean-up hitter D.J. Yates.
Big Bender: New London pitcher Justin Chaffins settled down after a rocky first inning. The right-hander relied heavily on his breaking pitch, striking out 10.
“The curve ball has been our weakness all year,” Webb said. “He had good command of it and was able to throw it for a strike in any count.”
Chaffins gave up just two first-inning singles.
“We all agreed that if we were going to get knocked out, we wanted to make it as tough as we could on them,” Webb said. “It wasn’t how we wanted to go out, but these kids have a lot to be proud of.”
