By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
LEXINGTON — It looked like Northern Kentucky’s losing streak in high school baseball state championship games might come to an end Saturday when Highlands tied the score, 4-4, in the fourth inning of the title game against Louisville St. Xavier.
But two St. Xavier players blasted home runs in the fifth and sixth innings to spark a late rally that carried the nationally ranked Tigers to a 10-6 win before a crowd of 2,313 at Whitaker Bank Ball Park.
This is the fifth consecutive year that a Northern Kentucky team has returned from the state tournament with the runner-up trophy. Highlands has done it twice during that span. The Bluebirds also lost in the 2015 state final.
“It’s tough, because I think we can play with anybody,” Highlands coach Jeremy Baioni said after Saturday’s game. “I think we showed that a little bit tonight, but it stinks (to lose).”
St Xavier (37-2) was ranked eighth in the nation by USA Today going into the state tournament. In their first three games, the Tigers scored runs in the late innings to nail down victories, and they did the same thing in the championship final against Highlands (29-14).
In the bottom of fifth inning, St. Xavier first baseman Ryan Nicholson hit a two-run homer over the right-field fence to give his team a 6-4 lead. One inning later, outfielder Andrew Littlefield put a ball over that same wall for a three-run homer.
The Tigers tacked on another run after Littlefield’s homer and Highlands trailed 10-4 going into the top of the seventh. A two-run homer by senior outfielder Drew Rom cut the margin to 10-6, but that’s the best the Bluebirds could do.
“We thought we’d be able to fight back, and we did,” Baioni said. “We just didn’t quite have enough tonight.”
Highland used four pitchers in the game. Hunter Dreves gave up three runs in the first inning without getting an out and he was replaced by Grady Cramer, who allowed just one run on one hit in four innings.
After St. Xavier got the go-ahead home run off Cramer in the fifth inning, he went to the dugout and Steven Grimme came to the mound. The Tigers got their final four runs off Grimme in the sixth inning before he was replaced by Tanner Juett.
“Those guys went out there and worked their tails off trying to do whatever they can to keep us in the game,” Baioni said of the four pitchers. “Some of them haven’t throw (in a game) in almost two weeks because of the way the tournament is set up, but they went out there and tried to do their best to help the team. You just have to give credit to St. X, they played very well.
In the fourth inning, the Bluebirds got two runs on four hits to tie the score at 4-4. Sam Hennigan drove in the first run with an infield single and teammate Ethan Kavanagh followed with a run-scoring single to left field.
In the sixth inning, the Bluebirds had bases loaded with one out, but St. Xavier pitcher Brycen Harkins got a pair of strike outs to end the inning.
Rom hit his two-run homer in the seventh off Harkins. Two other batters reached base, but the Bluebirds couldn’t carry out a comeback.
“We should’ve beat them,” Rom said. “Overall, I think we’re a very good team and should have had it, but it is what it is.”
Rom, Kavanagh and Hennigan were the Highlands players named to the state all-tournament team. Last week, Rom was voted Mr. Kentucky Baseball by the state coaches association for being the state’s best pitcher, but he also had some big hits during the Bluebirds’ playoff run.
“When he’s on the mound, we think we can win any game and when he’s at the plate he’s won some big games for us, like the regional final,” Baioni said. “That’s just what he does. He’s a gamer, and I’m really excited for him.”
Rom was a fourth-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the Major League Baseball entry draft. He said he’s going to Baltimore on Monday to sign a minor league contract with the club instead of attending the University of Michigan on a baseball scholarship.
HIGHLANDS 101 200 2 — 6 9 1
ST. XAVIER 301 024 x — 10 9 1
WP — Harkins (8-0). LP — Cramer (7-3). HITTING LEADERS: H — Kavanagh 3-4; Rom HR, 2 RBI; Schwalbach 3B. SX — Nicholson 3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI; Sweeney 2B, 2 RBI; Littlefield HR, 3 RBI; Elmore 2B. RECORDS: St. Xavier 37-2, Highlands 29-14.