Bellevue season ends in regional final

BOWLING GREEN -- The only thing Bellevue baseball coach Andy Dennings could fault was luck.

Though his Redmen managed just two hits in the Division 2 regional championship, their lack of offensive success stemmed more from the defense of Defiance than poor hitting. Bellevue repeatedly put hard swings on the ball, only to see its flyballs and grounders find the Bulldogs' gloves.

Bellevue, playing in its first regional championship game in 30 years, allowed more than five runs for the first time all season as the Redmen saw their season come to a close in an 8-0 loss to Defiance,

"I'm not real upset with the way we hit the ball. Unfortunately for us, we hit the gloves," Dennings said.

"I thought we competed extremely well at the plate," he added. "I never felt like we were over-whelmed at any point and we had a pretty good comfort level there."

The loss closes Bellevue's season with a 24-5 record, setting a new program mark for wins in a season.

"The chemistry we had was like no other," senior Dylan DeWitt said. "We had 1-through-9 every day that could make the big hit. That's what, I think, set us apart from others."

Friday's championship game mirrored Bellevue's semifinal win a day earlier. In that win, the Redmen jumped out to a five-run lead in the early going and salted the game away. Friday, Defiance took the early advantage, capitalizing on a pair of Bellevue miscues.

The Redmen committed two errors in the inning, both coming on what should have been routine plays on sacrifice bunts. However a fielding error and later a throwing error to first base allowed both runners to reach base safely, extending the inning and aiding the Bulldogs in building their 4-0 advantage.

"These guys know little things equal big things and unfortunately we didn't do the little things there and we kind of created a big thing for them," Dennings said.

With the four-run lead, Defiance pitcher Michael Hendricks went to work. Mixing his fastball and change-up with great effect, the Bulldogs hurler limited Bellevue to just a pair of hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Though Bellevue repeatedly hit the ball hard, Defiance made every play.

"His change-up was deadly," Bellevue senior Jake Strayer said of Hendricks. "It was the same thing as the fastball, you couldn't tell the difference until you were already out on your front foot. He's a very, very good pitcher."

DeWitt and Kyle Geary had Bellevue's only hits, both singles. Triston Snezek took the loss on the mound as he allowed six runs in 4.1 innings on seven hits one walk with one strikeout.

Defiance added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, including a solo home run by Garrett Sierra, and two more in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach.

"I think we kind of lost a little bit of our mental side there," Dennings said. "Once it got a little later in the game, I think it kind of sank in that, 'We might be in a little trouble here.'"