By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Two weeks ago, the Highlands baseball team had an 18-12 record and wasn’t ranked among the top 20 in the state coaches association poll. While the Bluebirds were celebrating their 5-2 victory over Conner in the 9th Region championship game, senior first baseman Kyle Finfrock said earlier setbacks never shook the team’s confidence.
“We had one dream the whole year and that was to win the region and then hopefully the state,” he said. “When we were losing, that wasn’t our caliber of play. We knew that, and finally something clicked.”
This is the third consecutive year that Highlands (25-12) has won the 9th Region baseball championship. The last team to pull off that three-peat was Newport Catholic in 1960-62.
In Thursday’s regional final, the Bluebirds scored four runs in the third inning to take a 5-2 lead and junior pitcher Drew Rom did the rest. The left-hander gave up just one hit in six innings, striking out 10 of the 19 batters he faced.
“It definitely works to my advantage because people aren’t used to seeing lefties at all, especially in the 9th Region,” Rom said of his pitching success. “It’s just the angle and the ball movement it has really creates a strikeout pitch even on a fastball.”
Rom started the game as a right fielder and knocked in the first run. With two out and a runner on third, he hit a high chopper over the pitcher’s mound. The second baseman wasn’t able to field the ball cleanly and the run scored on the infield single.
Conner tied the score in the second inning on a run-scoring single by designated hitter Tim Sherman. Rom took the mound in the third inning and walked lead-off hitter Ben North. After advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and stolen base, North scored on a ground out to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
Highlands regained the lead in a big way by scoring four runs on four hits off Conner starting pitcher Noah Litke in the bottom of the third inning.
Finfrock drove in the first two runs on a high-arching fly ball that Conner left fielder Trey Bowden wasn’t able to track down. The ball bounced off the synthetic turf and went over the fence for a 2-run double. Junior third baseman Sam Hennigan then stepped to the plate and laced a single to right field that allowed two more runs to score and made it 5-2.
“That was huge for us,” Highlands coach Jeremy Baioni said of the back-to-back hits by Finfrock and Hennigan. “It got everybody rolling and got everybody excited.”
Rom settled in after that and the only Conner players who reached base were Sherman on a single in the fourth inning and North on an error in the fifth.
“I’m very proud of my guys,” said Conner coach Brad Arlinghaus. “They battled, but you’ve got to get more than two hits to beat anybody, especially when you’ve got Rom on the mound. He’s one of the best pitchers up here and he makes it tough to hit the baseball.”
Highlands will take a seven-game win streak into next week’s state tournament and gets a rematch with 15th Region champion Johnson Central (31-7) in a first-round game at 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 8 at Whitaker Bank Park in Lexington.
Last year, Johnson Central beat Highlands, 6-2, in the opening round of the state playoffs. The Bluebirds are hoping to even the score next Friday and make a run at the title like their 2015 state runner-up team.
“These guys are really hungry for a (state championship) ring,” coach Baioni said. “We’re going to give it a shot, but we’ve got a really, really tough road down there. It’s really hard to (win state) in a one-and-out scenario, but we’re going to go down and do our best and see if we can shake things up a little bit.”
CONNER 011 000 0 — 2 2 1
HIGHLANDS 104 000 x — 5 9 2
WP — Rom (10 Ks). LP — Litke. HITTING LEADERS: C — Sherman 2-3. H — Kavanaugh 2-4; Finfrock 2B, 2 RBI; Hennigan 2 RBI. RECORDS: Highlands 25-12, Conner 27-10.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Highlands — Kyle Rust (MVP), Drew Rom, Kyle Finfrock, Sam Henigan. Conner — Ben North, Tim Sherman, Nick Craddock. Dixie Heights — Isaac Oelling, Bryce Smith. St. Henry — Will Brady, Jackson Haddle. CovCath — Mo Thiel. Beechwood — Evan Schlinger. NewCath — Brian Wells. Cooper — Ryle Bridlkey.
STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Whitaker Bank Park, Lexington)
Thursday, June 8 – Upper bracket
Marion County vs. Hazard, 11 a.m.
Muhlenberg County vs. Rowan County, 1:30 p.m.
Boyle County vs. Knox Central, 6 p.m.
SIMON KENTON vs. George Rogers Clark, 8:30 p.m.
Friday, June 9 – Lower bracket
McCracken County vs. Louisville Trinity, 11 a.m.
Franklin-Simpson vs. Pleasure Ridge Park, 1:30 p.m.
Scott County vs. Caldwell County, 6 p.m.
HIGHLANDS vs. Johnson Central, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 10
Upper bracket quarterfinals, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinals, 6 and 8:30 p.m.
Friday, June 16
Upper bracket semifinal, 11 a.m.
Lower bracket semifinal, 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 17
Championship game, 1 p.m.