By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
LEXINGTON — The Simon Kenton baseball team that entered the state tournament with more losses than 14 of the other 15 contenders in the bracket is one win away from taking home the championship trophy.
The Pioneers (27-15) came from behind to defeat Marion County, 5-2, in a semifinal game on Friday and advances to the title game for the second time in four years. They’ll play Pleasure Ridge Park (40-5) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Whitaker Bank Park in Lexington to decide this year’s state champion.
Pleasure Ridge Park is favored to win the title game, but Simon Kenton coach Troy Roberts likes his team’s chances after the Pioneers’ gutsy performance in the win over Marion County.
“Their mental toughness, I can’t describe it,” Roberts said of his players. “You look up the definition and that’s what these guys are. They persevere. They make plays when they need to make plays. They want it. They just want it.”
This is the fourth consecutive year that a Northern Kentucky team has made it to the state baseball final. The previous three teams — Simon Kenton in 2014, Highlands in 2015 and Campbell County in 2016 — lost in the championship game. If the Pioneers break that losing streak on Saturday, they’ll become the first local team to take the state title since Covington Catholic in 2002.
“I think we’re really confident right now, no matter who we’re playing,” said Simon Kenton senior catcher Hunter Faehr. “We’re just going to give it our all and go for a state championship.”
In the semifinal game, Faehr ripped a two-run double down the left field line in the sixth inning that gave the Pioneers a 5-2 lead. Senior pitcher Mitchell Kreidenweis had a little trouble nailing down the win in the top of the seventh. Marion County had runners on second and third when he got the final out on a ground ball.
Kreidenweis only gave up two hits in the game, but one of them was a solo home run by Marion County pitcher Andrew Spalding in the first inning. The Knights took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when a base runner scored on a wild pitch by the senior left-hander.
But Kreidenweis retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced after the wild pitch, posting six of his nine strikeouts during that run. The Knights didn’t get their second hit until there were two out in the seventh inning.
“The heat was starting to get to me, but I just had to keep pushing and keep going,” the winning pitcher said. “We just had to spot up (the pitches) and make them miss. I know I’m not going to blow it by them. I just had to make them miss.”
Simon Kenton scored its first two runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the score. After two batters drew walks, senior shortstop Trent Kincaid hit a double off the left field wall that drove in one run. A throwing error by Marion County’s third baseman on a high chopper by Brayden Trattles allowed the other run to score.
In the sixth, Trattles reached base on another Marion County throwing error and went to third on a single by Bailey Martin. With one out, Joey Ponder laid down a suicide bunt that the pitcher fielded in front of the plate, but his underhand toss to the catcher was dropped and Trattles slid across the plate for the go-ahead run.
After a diving catch by the Knights’ first baseman, Faehr stepped to the plate with two out and delivered his two-run double to give the Pioneers a 5-2 lead.
“He’s been doing it all year long,” coach Roberts said of Faehr’s clutch hit. “He’s in the No. 9 hole (in the batting order), but he’s one of our leading hitters. We just leave him down there because he’s comfortable there and he turns the lineup over for us.”
The coach plans to put Martin on the mound for Saturday’s championship game. He has a 7-2 record after getting the win in Simon Kenton’s state quarterfinal game last week. The Pioneers have now won 10 in a row after what Faehr described as a “roller coaster” regular season.
“It’s just amazing how we can just come together and do what we’re doing right now,” Faehr said. “It’s really special.”
“They play for each other and that’s what family is all about,” coach Roberts said. “We said earlier, ‘Let’s play for our seniors.’ They’ve kind of taken that mantra and it’s (become) a family thing. They love each other.”
MARION COUNTY 101 000 0 — 2 2 3
SIMON KENTON 002 003 x — 5 4 1
WP — Kreidenweis (9 Ks). LP — Spalding (9 Ks). HITTING LEADERS: MC — Spalding HR, SK — Kincaid 2-3, 2B; Faehr 2B, 2 RBI. RECORDS: Simon Kenton 27-15, Marion County 28-7.