The Chillicothe Hornets hosted Pleasant Hill in the state quarterfinals from Shaffer Park on Thursday. Chillicothe baseball had never won sectional prior to Tuesday’s 5-3 win over Benton and the Hornets were looking to continue to make program history.
Chillicothe opened the scoring in the 2nd inning when Christian Still was walked with the bases loaded, bringing home Dane Ireland. Pleasant Hill wasn’t trailing for long however, in the top of the 3rd, a Dane Ferrell single into left field scored Aiden Carey and the score was tied 1-1.
Both teams relied on their starting pitchers who delivered in big spots all game long. The deadlock drifted all the way to the 7th inning. Chillicothe had the opportunity to win it in the 7th with a run, but Roosters starting pitcher Carter Harrison struck out two Chillicothe batters to send the state quarterfinal contest into extra innings. It would be the final action on the mound for Pleasant Hill’s Harrison who went 7 innings, striking out 6 batters, while allowing just 5 hits and one run. That rivaled the excellent night from Chillicothe starting pitcher Noah Rinehart who also pitched 7 innings, striking out 3, giving up 5 hits and one run.
The game moved into extra innings as the rain began to fall at Shaffer Park. Howie Donoho came on in relief for Chillicothe and continued the high level pitching for the Hornets. Scoreless frames in the 8th, 9th, and 10th all gave Chillicothe chances for walk off winners. In the 10th inning, the breakthrough was seemingly there for the Hornets when Rinehart advanced to 2nd and Ireland sent a single into center field bringing the Hornets crowd to their feet. Rinehart rounded 3rd base, heading home but Pleasant Hill’s centerfielder Brady Roe rifled a perfect throw directly on the base path tagging out Rinehart just a few feet from victory.
In the 11th inning Donoho produced two strikeouts and another scoreless inning. Sammy Rodenberg then stepped up to the plate with the perfect leadoff single for Chillicothe. A Christian Still sacrifice bunt moved Rodenberg over to 2nd base. With one out Jack Marshall blasted a ball into right center field, this time Pleasant Hill was not able to prevent the runner from coming home. Rodenberg beat the throw to the plate, sending Chillicothe into the Final Four and Shaffer Park into a full on frenzy. The Hornets celebrated the 2-1 extra innings win by dogpiling on junior Jack Marshall who delivered the game winning RBI. Donoho’s dominance on the mound went a long way in the win also, he allowed just one hit in four scoreless innings while striking out three batters.
Chillicothe improves to a school record 21-12 on the season. The Hornets advance to the state final four for the first time in school history in baseball where Chillicothe will take on Father Tolton Catholic in Ozark, MO on Wednesday in the Class 4 state semifinals.
