Ohio Heat National 2012 13U Baseball - Game Recaps

A bevy of sixth inning walks keyed a six run outburst that gave the Heat a 10-0 run-rule victory over the CC Reds at pastoral Heritage Park Tuesday evening.  

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The Heat battled back from an early 3-0 deficit before eventually falling 8-7 in extra innings to the rival Cincinnati Flames as the sun was setting and darkness was falling.  

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The Heat faced a fireballer like none they'd seen to date, but when it came to heat vs. Heat, the Heat came out on top 5-2 against Custom-X at WCBC Tuesday evening.

Due to time constraints, I will need to complete this recap at a later time.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The beauty of baseball is that is has no time clock - except when it does, and then it gets ugly.  Such was the case Sunday when the umpire called that the 90 minute time limit had elapsed 3 minutes early and deprived the Heat of a final attempt to close a three run gap, resulting in a tournament-ending 7-4 defeat at the hands of the Indiana Elite.

Due to time contraints, I will need to conclude this recap at a later time.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The Ohio Heat put together perhaps their best game of the season as they ripped the Tipp City Flames 10-0 in the opening game of the Custom-X tournament on a crisp Friday night at Brandt Field in Springboro.  Maguire Stinson pitched a one-hit masterpiece, backed by stellar defensive palys by Will Hack, who made a lunging catch in foul territory after a long run from right field, and Sebastian Fabik who went to deep center to make an over-the-shoulder catch on a ball many in attendance thought he had no cahnce of reaching.

Meanwhile, the offense continued its big-inning ways, scoring six in the second and four in the third to setup the run-rule victory.

The second inning rally began with a walk to Winston Owens, followed by a single by Will Hack.  After Sebastian was robbed on a sliding catch in center, Chris Stock reached first following a dropped third strike that allowed Winston to score the game's first run. Joseph Cooney then walked to load the bases and an error by the shortstop put Drew Reckart on and let two more runs cross the plate.  Josh Hamilton then doubled to right for two more runs and Jefferson Szydlowski closed the scoring when his bad-hop single eluded the second baseman, bringing Josh home for a 6-0 lead.

The third saw Winston eladoff with a line shot single to left center, followed by a triple by Will.  Sebastian reached on a run-scoring error, then proceeded to keep the rally going when he eluded a pickoff with a run-down that this scorer recorded as 1-3-6-1-4-2-safe at first! Of course, this reporter may be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.  Drew the broght Sebastian home when the leftfielder allowed Drew's flyball to drop safely.  Drew then closed the scoring when hh dashed home all the way from second as the catcher searched vainly for a passed ball behind home plate.

Up 10-0 heading into the fifth, all that remained was holding Tipp City scoreless, which became more likely when Sebastian made his remarkable catch to start the inning.  A strikeout and a soft liner to second later, the victory was in the bag.

The Heat have now outscored their opposition 30-2 over the past fourteen innings.  The combination of offense, pitching and defense comes at an opportune time as the Heat seek to make their tourney mark.  Let's play ball!

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The Heat required no late-inning comeback as they dismantled the Cincinnati Sharks in workman-like fashion by a score of 12-2 on yet another chilly evening at the West Chester Baseball complex.

The Heat jumped to a first inning 1-0 lead when Josh Harrison stretched a shot to right-center into a double, allowing him to score on Maguire Stinson's single in the hole at first.  

After Wyatt Potts struck out the side in the second, the Heat exploded for six runs, continuing their big-inning tendencies.  Will Hack began the outburst with a walk, followed by a bloop single to center by Wyatt.  Walks to Chris Stock and Connor Patterson brought home the first run.  Another run scored when a throw to second after Paker Kling's pop to second opened the door for Wyatt (or his courtesy runner) to sprint home.  Drew then walked and Josh brought two runs in with another shot to right.  A walk, error and walk then brought Josh home to close the scoring and give the Heat a 7-0 lead.

A walk and two singles led to the Sharks' first run, but an outfield assist on a putout at third prevented the damage from being any worse in the third.

The Heat tacked on three more in their half of the frame as Chris launched a double deep over the centerfielder's head and Connor doubled to left to bring Chris home. Parker then singled to center and moved to second on a stolen base, setting the stage for back-to-back sacrifice flies to center by Drew Reckart and Joh.

Joseph Cooney came on in relief after a leadoff single in the fourth, but escaped with little damage, allowing a solitary run despite loading the bases.

The run-rule victory was secured in the sixth when Jefferson Szydlowski reached on a single to right and scored on Winston Owne's game-winning double (Winston would likely have had a triple had the game not ended upon Jefferson crossing the plate).

After an up-and-down start to the season, it appears the Heat are hitting their stride, which couldn't come at a better time as they approach the Custom-X torunament this coming weekend.  Let the competition beware - the Heat is on.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

Jekyll and Hyde. Heads or tails. A box of chocolates.  Take your pick - you never know what to expect when the Heat take the field. For four innings on a blustery evening at WCBC it looked as though the Heat might have trouble spelling "baseball," let alone playing it.  Save for centerfielder Sebastian Fabik, who was responsible for fully a third of the Heat's putouts through four innings, including a spectacular diving catch in right-center on the game's first play, the Heat's play during those four frames could best be described as uninspired as their American League counterpart Heat Gold took a commanding 5-0 lead.  But if we've learned anything about this team, it is that they can turn on a moment's notice.  And so it happened once again as the Heat (our Heat) proceeded to push eight runs across in the fifth to earn an 8-5 victory.

I must admit, these big inning outbursts make it easy to write these recaps. No inning-by-inning tale of back-and-forth. No nuanced references to subtle baseball strategy. Just a straightforward retelling of the big inning.  In this case, it started in the bottom of the fifth with a wild throw that put Will Hack on bese.  That was followed by a walk to Joseph Cooney, a perfect bunt single by Parker Kling, a two-run double by Drew Reckart, back-to-back walks to Josh Harrison and Jefferson Szydlowski, a bases-clearing triple to the rightfield corner by Maguire Stinson - a standup triple, no less - an RBI single by Winston Owens and yet another opposite-field triple by Sebastian.  And that was the ballgame.

Well, that, and a stellar relief performance by Will, who shut down the Heat Gold over four innings to earn a well-deserved victory.

As always, tomorrow is another day and we will have to see which Heat team shows up. If it is the one that played the final three innings today, then bring it on.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The early season has not been kind to the Ohio Heat and the final game of the 2012 Pre-Season Classic at Mid-America Ballpark had a little bit of everything that's befallen the team as they fell 7-6 to the Cincinnati Riverbats.  In this case, that included both an early deficit and a late comeback by the opposition. In between, the Heat showed the grit they'd shown earlier in the day, battling back from a 4-0 hole to take a 6-4 lead into the sixth.

The Heat began their climb from that early deficit in the second on a double to left-center by Will Hack and a sacrifice fly to center by Connor Patterson.  They closed the gap to one in the fourth when three errors allowed two runs to score. perhaps not the offensive outburst the Heat had displayed earlier in the day, but hey, who's to complain?  

It looked as though the Heat had found their stride and were readty to put the game away in the fifth as a walk to Drew Reckart, an error off the bat of Maguire Stinson, a single by Winston and a triple by Will put the Heat ahead by a score of 6-4.  But back-to-back doubles, a bunt and a force out allowed the Riverbats to tie the score. Then, as the man in blue became spectator while the Heat catcher searched vainly for a ball hidden by said umpire's foot, the go-ahead and eventual winning run scampered home from third. 

The Heat threatened as Joseph Cooney reached base on an error and Josh Harrison slammed a single that traveled perhaps all of three feet. But a single it was, and the Heat had two on with two out, but they could not convert and went down to the 7-6 defeat.  While it would be easy to get disheartened by the slow start this team has endured, it should be noted that this team is loaded with talent - talent that has shown glimmers of busting out, but has remained just a glimmer. There is no doubt that this team will hit it's stride, and when it does there will be few who will want to get in the way of the steamroller.  It's just a matter of time.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

The Heat continued where they left off in game 1 of the 2012 Pre-Season Challenge, scoring ten unanswered runs for a 10-0 run-rule victory over the Northern Kentucky Hitmen at Mid America Ballpark.  Once again, Drew Reckart got things started, this time with a leadoff walk. Then, after two went down, a bad hop single by Maguire Stinson brought Drew home with the game's first run and back-to-back doubles by Winston Owens and Will Hack brought home two more for a 3-0 lead.

The Heat added to their lead in the second on a walk to Sebastian Fabik and an RBI single to right-center by Drew to make the lead 4-0.

The Heat threatened again in the third when the first tow batters reached safely, but a hit-and-run call backfired when the properly executed rocket to the opposite field was snagged on the fly by the first baseman and converted into a quick and legitimate triple play.  That is one way to keep the pitch count down.

The score remained 4-0 through 4-1/2 innings as Maguire Stinson pitched 4-1/3 innings of shutout ball and Chris Stock came on in relief and proceeded to strikeout the two batters he faced to complete the shutout.  That shutout was made official as the Heat scored six in the bottom of the fifth for a 10-0 run-rule win.  Drew got things rolling with yet another double down the line in left, followed by a walk to Josh Harrison, an RBI single lined to right by Jefferson Szydlowski, walks to Maguire, Winston and Will, a sacrifice fly by Wyatt Potts and a bases-clearing, game-winning, opposite field triple to the rightfield wall by Sebastian Fabik.

Combined with the last-inning rally of the prior game, the Heat put nineteen unanswered runs on the board in six innings, providing a glimpse of what this team is capable of doing and leaving all anxious to see what the rest of the day would have in store.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

Holy lordy, these boys sure know how to make it interesting.  After falling behind 10-0 thanks to some less-than-stellar play and an AWOL offense, the Ohio Heat nearly pulled of a comeback for the ages, scoring nine times in their final at-bat to close within one before making the final out with the tying run in scoring position.  Alas, the final score was Cincinnati Mustangs 10, Ohio Heat 9.

There is not much to say about the first 3-1/2 innings of this one - so I won't (there was a 2 hour time limit and the Heat used every last bit of it in completing four innings).  But the bottom of the fourth was a different story.  With bats heating along with the morning sun, the first seven batters reached base before an out was made.  The onslaught included two walks, an error, a perfect run-scoring bunt by Joseph Cooney, another walk, a two-run single by Jefferson Szydlowski, another RBI single by Winston Owens, a walk, a run-scoring fielder's choice, a two-run single by Josh Harrison and a run-scoring infield hit by Will Hack to cut the deficit to one.  Will made his way to second with two out and was running with the crack of the bat as blooper drifted into no-man's land in shallow right.  The Mustang's second baseman, rightfielder and centerfielder all converged and one of them - I'm not sure which - made a rolling catch for the final out as Will was crossing the plate.

I must say, they have found an interesting array of ways to lose, but this one should be one to build upon.  It would have been easy to mail this one in once they were down by ten, but instead these young men never gave up and were on the verge of a victory we'd have been discussing the rest of the year. That it fell short should not cloud what they accomplished and should certainly be remembered should they ever find themselves in a similar hole (let us hope this lesson need not be recalled under such circumstances).  Still, this was a victory of heart, if not of record. Be proud of your fight, boys.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

It appears we missed a wild one.  I haven't seen the final stats and I'm not even sure if the score was 10-9 or 9-8, but the Heat did earn their first victory of the season.  There won't be much of a recap, but we'll try to get a box score uploaded as soon as possible.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

So I was wrong when I wrote the headline after the Ohio Heat's season-opening loss - it doesn't automatically get better as the Heat suffered a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to the Cincinnati Baseball Club at Rumpke Ballpark.  What made this loss so painful was the fact our boys had taken a comfortable 5-1 lead after two innings, saw that lead evaporate, but then come back to jump ahead 7-5 in the bottom of the fifth, only to allow three runs in the top of the sixth to wind up on the losing end.

Unlike the night before, when the weather was perfect but the bats were ugly, Saturday began with a cold, biting wind but a hot offense.  After giving up a solo run to give Hamiton an early lead, Drew Reckart got things started with a solid double down the leftfield line on the eighth pitck of his at bat.  It looked as he might be stranded as the next two batters went down quietly, but singles by Maguire Stinson, Chris Stock and Will Hack, followed by a double to the track in left by Winston Owens gave the Heat a 4-1 lead.  They would tack on another run in the second when Wyatt Potts launched a home run that some estimated traveled 280 feet in the air.

That's when Hamilton began chipping away, first with a run in the third, then three more to tie it in the fifth.  But it looked as though the Heat would pull it out as Drew ripped another double to start the bottom of the fifth, followed by a walk to Jefferson Szydlowski.  Again, it looked as though the rally might fizzle as the next to were retired, but a walk to Chris and an error brought in two to give the Heat a 7-5 lead.

That would not be enough, however, this gray Saturday as Hamilton proceeded to score three in the sixth then shut down the Heat in their last at bat to preserve the victory.  As painful as this loss may have been, the arrival of the Heat bats were reason to believe better days lie ahead.  Surely, it has to get better now.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski

I worried as the new Ohio Heat season neared that I would not have time to write the dazzling recaps so many have come to expect the past few years because for the first time since since the elder Bush administration I actually have a real job.  As it turns out - for one night, at least - that is not a problem as the Ohio Heat turned in an opening night performance about which little need be said, falling 8-0 to the Westside Raiders in opening round tournament action at Rumpke Ballpark.  

The game, like the weather, began beautifully with Maguire Stinson giving up a lone run in three innings, including a dominant second where he struck out the side.  But just like the weather, it began to get ugly. Jefferson Szydlowski led off the fourth with his second hit of the game and worked his way to third, only to be, well, there's no good way to put it so let's just say doubled off to end the inning (for those new to this site, understand that Jefferson is the only player who gets to enjoy being the target of slings and arrows thrown by this reporter).  In any event, an opportunity to tie the game at 1-1 was missed and the Heat returned to take the field for the bottom of the fourth.

The Raiders would score an unearned run that inning to go up 2-0 and then closed it out with six more in the fifth on a flare just beyond the outstretched reach of Drew Reckart at second, a couple of walks, a questionable hit batsmen, a couple of bloops just inside the line in shallow left and a couple of errors. And so an inning that could have been harmless instead turned into an 8-0 run-rule defeat. And so the season began.

Surely, fans and players alike are disappointed by the result, but there is no doubt this is a talented bunch and as they relax and settle in we'll be able to do the same and enjoy much great baseball that is sure to come - just as surely as the sun will return after last night's downpour. Such is life and such is baseball - and that's what makes both so great.

Posted by Paul Szydlowski