HEBRON ― In an unforgiving Division II district baseball tournament, where several top-notch teams reside but only one out of 21 advances to the regional, little things can quickly become magnified.
So it was for defending district champion Lakewood, which saw visiting London put just one of its four hits into the outfield Thursday but still come away with a 4-0 victory at Don and Mary Ann Thorp Field.
The sixth-seeded Lancers (16-8) left four runners in scoring position and managed only three hits off left-hander Noah Fellure of the seventh-seeded Red Raiders (22-7), who advanced to meet top-seeded Bishop Watterson at 5 p.m. Monday in a district semifinal. It was an uncharacteristic performance for Lakewood, which saw the careers of nine seniors end.
"We did things we hadn't done all year, made mistakes we hadn't made all year," coach Chuck Davis said. "We had three errors, and I thought we had a really, really good defense this season. We didn't execute in certain situations, and their guy pitched very well."
So did senior right-hander William Marrero for the Lancers, but in avenging a district semifinal loss last year London made him pay for two early walks.
Connor Lacey led off with a walk, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored when Braden Collins bounced to second. In the second, Logan Weiner drew a leadoff walk, advanced on an infield error and eventually scored on a bunt single by Clayton Scaggs to make it 2-0, with Lakewood second baseman Carter Davis throwing another runner out at the plate.
Meanwhile, the Lancers left runners at second base in the first and second innings off Fellure, who struck out only three and walked two. One runner was thrown out stealing and another picked off first.
But in the fourth, they looked to be in business. Marrero and Jalen White had singles, the Raiders committed an error and Luke Pierce walked to load the bases. But Fellure induced an inning-ending double play, then set down the final nine batters in order.
"That was our chance to get the momentum, change the entire momentum of the game," coach Davis said.
Another Lakewood error, two passed balls and two-out RBI hits by Weiner and Carter Blakeway gave London two big insurance runs in the sixth for the final 4-0 margin.
Marrero allowed just one earned run and four hits, striking out four and walking three over 5⅔ innings in his final Lakewood appearance. Pierce followed with 1⅓ scoreless innings.
"Will pitched very well again for us; I was excited that he pitched extremely well all season," coach Davis said. "I'm proud of all the extra work that he put in, and Mason Sprankle was fantastic, too."
The Lancers graduate starters Marrero, Pierce, Sprankle, Peyton Tichenor and Nate Gall, along with Kollin Hall and Cayden MacDonald, who were out all season with injuries, and foreign exchange students Leo Seifert and team manager Fabio Baghino. They helped lead Lakewood to an unexpected district title last year, when the Lancers finished 12-16.
"People expected us to lose every game and we were underdogs every game, which made it very special," Marrero said. "We've been playing together forever, and we're all friends for life. We'll all go on to do good things in life. We put in a lot of hard work, but we had no other option. We put in four hours Tuesday and were out here until 6:30, but we didn't mind."
Coach Davis said they never stopped working hard.
"Working, working, working, and improving," he said. "It's a great group of kids, and I'll miss them."
While Marrero is looking forward to his next step (he's headed to Ohio Dominican to play outfield and first base), the Lancers return four starters in second baseman Davis and outfielders Colton Ferry, Carson Anderson and White. Plus they'll have the talent from a good reserve team as the Lakewood tradition continues.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Tough tourney loss can't wipe out successful run for Lakewood seniors
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