The Windham Bombers baseball team’s success in the postseason still has yet to come but as far as Coach Jake Eye is concerned, they are closer than ever. The Bombers’ season ended when they were shut out by Northeastern Athletic Conference foe Maplewood 8-0 in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division VII Northeast 2 district semifinal last Wednesday evening in Cortland.
“Right from the start we shot ourselves in the foot early in the game and it just seemed like we did not get any breaks,” said the four-year coach. “We made some mistakes that cost us. I truly feel like we beat ourselves. We did not play our best defensively.”
It marked the first time since Eye became head coach that the Bombers (12-10, 4-6) had advanced to the district semifinal but as evidenced by the final score, Windham still has room to grow before making a deep postseason push.
On Wednesday evening, the Bombers fell into an early hole as they were plagued by defensive miscues. The Rockets’ leadoff batter, senior center fielder Gavin Clower, reached base on a fielding error at second base. Clower advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by junior right-hander Gabe Erwin and reached third base on a passed ball and then scored on a wild pitch form senior right-hander Jack Eye.
“The first batter reached on a routine error and stole second and then got to third on a passed ball and scored ultimately, so you are down 1-0 and not a single ball was put in play or squared up,” noted Coach Eye.
In the third inning, the Bombers continued making self-inflicted mistakes on a throwing error on a bunt attempt by junior catcher Tyson Webster, which allowed Erwin, who reached base on a fielding error at first base, to score all the way from first base. Sophomore shortstop Zach Suba delivered a RBI-single to freshman shortstop Keegan Kiser, increasing Maplewood’s lead to 3-0.
As the Rockets continued adding to their lead, the Windham batters could not mount a rally, recording only six hits against Erwin, with only one hit going for extra bases.
“You are trying to jam the bases every inning,” he added. “You always want to try and get that leadoff hitter on and put pressure on the defense and they were making plays and keeping us off the base.”
After adding another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, Maplewood struck for two runs in the bottom half of the fifth as Erwin knocked a 2-run single to center field, pushing the Rockets’ advantage to 6-0.
With a combination of poor defense and little offensive production, the Bombers’ playoff march ended abruptly.
In the wake of the season-ending loss, Windham graduates five seniors and Coach Eye emphasized the impact they left on the program.
“All good guys,” he said. “Just good locker room guys, good chat guys, good guys to have on your side. Dylan McCune, Brian King, Austin Cales, Jacob Cody, along with Jack, they are all good leaders. They are all good young men and will go on to do great things in this world and they all have had great careers and have left a good legacy here at Windham.”
Although the season has just ended, Coach Eye said that the Bombers reached a lot of their goals this season, including ushering in the development of its nine freshmen, the biggest prospective senior class that Coach Eye has inherited in his tenure.
According to him, the Windham freshmen grew leaps and bounds in a season where the Bombers more than doubled their win total from last year.
He added that accomplishing that feat with such limited varsity experience on the roster indicated a lot of promise not just from the underclassmen but for the trajectory of the program.
“From day one until now, they have all gotten better and they have all learned more about the game, they all have learned more about themselves,” Coach Eye noted. “Obviously, next year they will be bigger, stronger and faster so our program is in great shape, our future is bright. Those freshmen that we have right now, I would not trade anybody for, they are super quality kids, they want to learn, they want to win, and they want to get better. They play for each other. I am excited for them.”
