Baum returns to mound, sends Heath baseball past Greeneview, to state

FAIRBORN — Riley Baum could do nothing but wait for the GameChanger app to update each pitch during the Heath baseball team’s run to a district championship.

Baum was back in control Friday. The junior right-hander returned to the mound with a vengeance, helping to pitch the Bulldogs to a 6-2 victory against Greeneview (26-5) in a Division III regional final at Wright State.

“It feels so much better being back. I really missed the guys when I was gone,” said Baum, who missed the district semifinal and final games with a high fever. He returned and pitched three innings in a tuneup game on May 27 against Columbus Academy to knock off the rust.

“It’s been in the back of our minds, but a few years ago we didn’t think we’d be here,” Baum added. “It feels great.”

Baum threw 6⅓ innings, pitching Heath into its first state tournament since 2007. Classmate Hayden Woodward retired the final two batters to leave the bases loaded.

“I am certainly in the moment, but I have been able to think about it,” Heath coach Tom Warren said. “I am proud our program is back to where it’s at. We have a lot of good players in our program Nos. 1 through 29. … You just saw Woody come in there, and he didn’t have any warmup pitches (in the bullpen). We got the job done.”

Heath (23-8) plays Harrison Central at 7 p.m. Friday at Canal Park in Akron with Ottawa Hills meeting defending champion Waynedale in the earlier semifinal at 4 p.m. Harrison Central trailed Wheelersburg 7-0 after two innings on Friday before rallying for an 8-7 victory.

The Bulldogs continued to dominate with pitching and defense. They have allowed just five runs during five postseason games, and an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play started by junior shortstop Kaden Green allowed Baum to escape a sixth-inning jam.

“A lot of it is because we play a lot of baseball outside of school ball, too,” junior catcher Paul Gould said. “We are always in situations like that.” 

That relationship on the field for Gould and Baum dates to 10U. Gould’s relationships with the pitchers are strengthened each winter with work under the watchful eye of long-time pitching coach Mike Saalfield.

“We do a lot of bullpens,” Gould said. "They kind of suck at the start, and then you get used to it. It all pays off when you throw like that. I couldn’t ask for more out of them.”

Baum allowed an unearned run, scoring on a roller down the third-base line in the bottom of the first inning, but the Bulldogs tied it in the top of the second on sophomore Connor Corbett’s RBI single. The Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead in the third when junior Conner Toomey scored on a double steal, and Green later singled in Corbett.

The lead grew to 5-1 in the top of the fifth inning on Corbett’s two-out, two-run single. Green scored on a Baum squeeze for the Bulldogs’ final run.

"Last year being 10-13 and this year totally flipping that around, it's been a crazy year," Green said. "I am truly blessed to share that with these guys. We've made it all the way here. Why stop now?"

Heath was 6-20 in a rebuilding 2021 season. Two years later, the Bulldogs will be playing on the state's final weekend.

“Me and the team knew we had an uphill battle during the offseason,” Gould said. "We knew we had to change something. It feels surreal that we are out here playing like this.”

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

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