The Chillicothe Hornets baseball team played their regular season finale on Monday at Savannah. The Hornets entered with a chance to win the conference outright, standing at 18-9, 5-0 in the MEC while Savannah was 19-10, 3-1 in the conference.
Chillicothe scored a pair of runs in the first inning with RBIs from Noah Rinehart and Dane Ireland, but Savannah responded with an explosive first frame. The Savages scored five to take an early three run lead. Both pitchers shutout their opponent in the 2nd inning and Chillicothe was unable to cut into the deficit once more in the third. To open the bottom of the third inning Mason Waitkoss belted a ball deep against Rinehart for a solo homer to push the lead out to 6-2.
Dane Ireland stepped onto the mound in relief, getting out of the inning without any more damage and allowed just one run in the 4th, but Chillicothe still entered the 6th inning trailing 7-2. Braylon Ellis pitched 5 innings against the Hornets striking out 8 batters while allowing just the two early runs.
Against a new arm, the Hornets loaded the bases and finally broke through when Hubby Ralls singled into left field, scoring Cooper Robinson. Then with one out and the bases still loaded, Howie Donoho ripped one deep into center field against the wall for a bases clearing triple that brought in three runs, cutting the margin down to 7-6. Chillicothe kept the momentum going with consecutive hits from Cooper Helton, Jack Marshall, Cooper Robinson and Max Cranmer to come all the way back, taking a 10-7 lead midway through the 6th inning.
After putting the first two Savages batters on base, Coach Troy Figg moved Howie Donoho to the mound limiting Savannah to just one run. While the Hornets were unable to add to their lead in the 7th inning, Donoho delivered in a big way to close out the comeback, striking out 5 of the final 6 batters he faced across the 6th and 7th inning to preserve the 10-8 victory.
With the win Chillicothe finished the regular season at 19-9, and a perfect 6-0 in the MEC. A conference title was the one achievement missing from the historical run last season that ended with a state title. Chillicothe will now face Savannah once again in the Class 4 District 16 semifinal next Tuesday in St. Joseph.