Cherokees stay on a roll in state
LANCASTER - Josh Bigrigg was soaked in sweat, like most of his Coshocton Post 65 Cherokees' teammates. But you couldn't keep the smile off his face on a sizzling Wednesday at Beavers Field.
His father, Bob Bigrigg, coaches first base for the Cherokees, and son joined father in the Cherokees' record book. Josh went the first 5 2/3 innings to get the win, Coshocton's first in the American Legion State Tournament since Bob Bigrigg got one in 1976, and the Cherokees pounded out 17 hits in an impressive 10-2 opening victory against St. Clairsville Post 159.
"It's a pretty special moment, that's more sure," said Josh Bigrigg, a River View graduate who allowed five hits, struck out two and walked four before eventually tiring in the 94-degree heat. "I got a little dehydrated, a little weak standing out there on the bases. We hit the ball hard and played crisp defense, just like we've been doing. We've had three really good games with (St. Clairsville), and we were pretty excited about our chances coming in."
Ridgewood's Braeden Smith finished things out for the Cherokees (21-9), who will face the Circleville-Pickerington winner at 7 p.m. Thursday in the winners bracket.
"Our pitching is where we want it to be," coach Denny Gray said after Post 65's first state appearance since 2011, with the only other one coming in 1976. "Josh threw 85-90 pitches, and Braeden worked two quick innings. We hit the ball at opportune times and stayed entirely focused the whole game. They didn't get caught up in the hype of playing in their first state tournament."
Josh Bigrigg helped his own cause, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. He doubled off the top of the left field fence in the second, scoring Coshocton's Talon Babcock, and scored on a single to right by Coshocton's Andrew Mason as the Cherokees jumped ahead 2-0 and never looked back.
He followed that up with an RBI single in the third, scoring Ridgewood's Brice Hammond. In a three-run fifth, Babcock and Josh Bigrigg had run-scoring singles, and Coshocton's Ray Durham delivered a sacrifice fly. Babcock came back with a two-out, RBI double in the sixth; Coshocton's Gavin Gray had two-run single in the seventh; and River View's Jorn Hocter had a run-scoring single in the eighth.
"We had seen their pitchers in the regular season so we pretty much knew what they were going to throw at us," said Babcock, who went 2-for-3. "We've been hitting the ball hard the last couple weeks; we won 20-3 in the regional title game. It's a real close group of guys. Most of us have played together (in the summer) since junior high."
Leadoff man Connor Roahrig from Coshocton, Gray and Mason had two singles each, and Hocter doubled and singled for the Cherokees. Cleanup man Trevor Kiner from West Holmes doubled before leaving with a hamstring injury suffered running the bases. His replacement, River View's Adam Coup, also doubled.
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