Ridgewood ready for regional rematch with Wheelersburg

WEST LAFAYETTE – The last time the Ridgewood baseball team made it to the regional tournament they were beaten in the finals 4-0 by Wheelersburg.

Now, two years later, the Generals will be going back to the regional tournament, playing against, no other than the Wheelersburg Pirates.

The first pitch will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, at Paints Stadium, in Chillicothe.

While it may not be the exact same team, it will be the same pitcher, Wade Martin, who pitched a shutout against them last time around.

“Wade Martin is solid. He is a solid pitcher,” said senior Gage Young. “We are just going to have to jump on him early.”

Young, who played in that game two years ago, remembers that bus ride home well, and is relaying that feeling to the team.

“It was probably the longest three hours of my life,” he said. “It might have been the quietest bus ride home ever. Everyone was down.”

“We don’t want to have that type of ride home,” pitcher Caleb Tingle said.

To avoid that this year, Young said the key is excitement.

“Once you step out on that turf it’s a whole different ball game, everyone is hyped up and ready to go. You just see all the hard work come together,” he added.

This senior class is no stranger to hard work either. Ridgewood has been to the regional tournament seven times in school history, and to the regional finals twice. This class has the opportunity to raise that tally to three and some can make it their second regional final.

“There were some expectations upon them that they had the potential to do something like we are currently in,” head coach Chad Lahna said. “Like I told them several times, it doesn’t just happen. They have to go out and perform, and take care of business. We were able to get on a roll in the beginning of the season, but you always have your ups and downs.”

One of the downs came right before the Generals began their district tournament run. They lost two games in a row, to Newcomerstown (3-1) and Berlin Hiland (11-0).

“They weren’t the best losses, they were pretty ugly,” Tingle said. “We had to stay strong, keep our mind right, and stay confident, knowing that we could get a big win and keep advancing in the tournament.”

The Generals’ big win came in the form of a 13-strikeout day by Tingle, as he carried them to a 1-0 win against St. Clairsville in the district semifinals.

“We know when to kick it into gear, we know when to turn it up another notch and play our best ball,” Tingle said. “I think we are playing our best ball right now and I think that’s what you need to be doing during the tournament.”

Then came another crucial victory, a 5-1 win over West Muskingum in the district finals. The one thing that was consistent in those games was the competition the Generals faced on the mound.

On Thursday, they face another tough pitcher in Martin, but the Generals know he isn’t unhittable.

In the game two years ago, the Generals had a chance to jump on him in the first inning. But, after a sacrifice bunt and passed ball moved lead-off hitter Brice Hammond to third, a sacrifice fly led to a double play and ended their chance.

“I think a lot of our seniors remember that, they know what they are getting into when they step in that batter’s box against Martin on Thursday,” Lahna said. “It’s nice because at least we have seen him before. He has changed in two years and has gotten significantly better. We are going to have to show up and play the way we have been and see what happens.”

For the players who faced off against Martin, they are focused on relaying as much information as possible.

“We are going to bring all the knowledge we had two years ago and try to jump on this kid early,” Young said. “We get on this kid early, and hopefully go out and get to that regional championship.”

Not many high school teams make it to regionals twice in three years. Even less make it to regionals and play the same team that knocked them out of the postseason two years prior, but the Generals are enjoying the opportunity.

“This is a blessing, it is going to be one heck of a game,” Young said. “There is nobody else I would like to face-off against. It’s intense.”

“Revenge is pretty cool, but in the same breath, we need to make sure that we don’t go in there too hyped up and overlook them,” Lahna said.

cjteaguerob@gannett.com

740-295-3442

Twitter: @cj_teague