Joe Catullo
CELEBRATING — The Jefferson County Teramana Post 33 Legion baseball team celebrates winning the Region 7 title over Coshocton Post 65 on Monday.
STEUBENVILLE — The Region 7 Legion baseball tournament belonged to Jefferson County Teramana Post 33.
It first disposed of Brilliant Post 573 on Sunday, then seemingly cruised by Coshocton Post 65, 8-4, on Monday to claim the title.
“It’s an honor. We have a great group of kids all fighting for the same goal,” head coach Anthony Pierro said. “They really want to do well for each other, and that’s special.
“We’re really excited to see what we can do because I think we have the pitching and the player profile to do this. We’re excited to go to the banquet on Monday, and we’re staying until we lose.”
Pierro put Aiden Fernandez on the mound, who already has a signature moment at Vacarro Field this season with a 1-0 sectional victory over Steubenville. He went five innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits, two walks and struck out a pair.
“Aiden and George Ash are our No. 1s. There’s no difference,” Pierro said. “Aiden’s our man, and when he’s on the mound, we expect to be ready to play some defense. He’ll also get some strikeouts, and we need to score runs for him. He did a great job throwing about 65 pitches. He really hasn’t pitched much in the last week or so, so we didn’t want to abuse him.”
Speaking of Ash, he nearly tossed a perfect game against Brilliant in the 11-0 win. On Monday, his bat sparked Post 33 with two singles, a double and three RBIs.
“George is our 19-year-old coming back from college. Him and Coy Amis are our leaders,” Pierro said. “We thrive off of them. When they have their game, we’re ready to go and perform.”
Amis, a left-handed hitter, reached base all four times with a single and three walks, while score two times.
Coshocton struck first in the top of the first on Brody Hammersley’s sacrifice fly. Jefferson County responded and Ash two-run double in the bottom half of the frame.
The game changed in the third when Post 33 crossed home three times thanks to two errors. With one away, Ryan Anderson reached on a miscue to load the bases. Quinn McCoy then grounded to second, and the ensuing throw to the shortstop was wide, allowing David Ferroni and Amis to score. Ash then hit a run-scoring base knock but was out trying to stretch it into a double.
Post 33 added a run in the third on a Ferroni RBI base knock. Ferroni finished with three hits (two singles and a double). His biggest contribution was catching Fernandez, his former teammate at Indian Creek.
“They’re best friends. They enjoy playing with each other. Who knows when they’ll be able to do this again,” Pierro said.
Coshocton plated a run home in the fifth when Kadin Mount scored on a wild pitch. That inning marked the end for Fernandez.
Ty Householder worked the sixth with an 8-2 advantage. In the bottom of the fifth, Ferroni scored on a wild pitch, and Blake Connelly touched home following an error.
Householder allowed a free pass and a hit but kept Post 65 off the scoreboard. Cooper Blackburn closed the door in the seventh despite a two-out comeback attempt from Coshocton.
During Jefferson County’s run the last two games, it struck out zero times.
“With our lineup, one through nine is dangerous,” Pierro said. “The eight and nine hitters are batting leadoff in high school. We’re solid, and we have guys who can come off the bench and do the same thing. It doesn’t matter what inning or where we’re at in the batting order. We can score two to three runs at any time.”
Mount took the loss for Post 65. He allowed all eight runs (four earned) on 10 hits and three walks. Gabe Tingle tossed the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and a walk.
UP NEXT
Post 33 tentatively begins the state tournament at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Lancaster. Its opponent is TBA. It will be an eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
Jefferson County 8, Coshocton 4
Coshocton 1-0-0 0-1-0 2 — 4 5 3
Jefferson 2-3-1 0-2-0 x — 8 11 2
COSHOCTON: Mount (LP, 4 2/3IP, 8R (4ER), 10H, 3BB, 0K), Tingle (1 2/3IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 0K) and Fauver. Cutshall S; Fauver S; Tingle S, D, RBI; Hammersley RBI; Warden D.
JEFFERSON COUNTY: Fernandez (WP, 5IP, 2R (1ER), 3H, 1BB, 2K), Householder (1IP, 0R, 1H, 1BB, 0K), Blackburn (1IP, 2R (1ER), 1H, 2BB, 2K) and Ferroni. Thompson S; Amis S; Anderson S; Ash 2S, D, 3RBIs; Edwards T; Ferroni 2S, D, RBI; Connelly S.
