By Evan Merrill
NKy Tribune contributor
Campbell County’s baseball team kept its dream season alive Friday with a dramatic 1-0 win over Bullitt East in the semifinals of the state tournament at Whitaker Bank Ball Park in Lexington.
In the top of the ninth inning, Campbell County senior Connor Walsh led off with a double and was replaced by pinch runner Rob Augsperger. After Bullitt East made a pitching change, senior first baseman Carson Plessinger drove in the game’s only run with a double down the right field line off reliever Garrett Wilson.
The win puts Campbell County (29-10) in the state championship game for the first time in the history of the program.
The Camels, who were not ranked among the top 20 teams in the state going into the playoffs, will face perennial power Louisville St. Xavier (28-12) in the title game at 7 p.m. Saturday. St. Xavier slipped past McCracken County, 3-2, in nine innings in the other semifinal game on Friday.
“We came to win, not to watch,” said Campbell County coach Scott Schweitzer. “We’re going to compete and do whatever we have to do to beat St. X.”
Campbell County senior Alex Franzen pitched 8 2/3 innings of four-hit baseball in his team’s semifinal victory. Bullitt East starting pitcher Christopher McKinley didn’t give up a hit until the seventh inning.
“I think (McKinley) had a no-hitter through six and that’s incredible to do that in the state semifinals,” Franzen said. “But we prevailed, we wore him down. We all hung in there, the defense really kept us in there.”
Franzen has been the winning pitcher in four of his team’s eight playoff victories. In two state tournament games, he has given up one unearned run on eight hits with 15 strikeouts in 15 innings.
“He believes he’s the best player on the field and that’s how he pitches,” said coach Schweitzer. “He’s done it all year. He’s now 12-3 and he just walked out of his last start as a senior throwing 123 pitches.”
Schweitzer took Franzen out of the semifinal game with two outs in the ninth inning before he reached the maximum pitch count of 125. That means the senior right-hander will be eligible to pitch in Saturday night’s championship game against St. Xavier. The Camels’ starting pitcher will likely be Colton Hartig, who has a 6-3 record with victories in his last two starts.
St. Xavier won its sixth state baseball championship in 2014 and will be considered the favorite in Saturday’s season finale. But Campbell County is on a roll that has boosted the team’s confidence.
“I mean, at the beginning of the year you all thought it was a dream, but we’re making dreams a reality now,” Franzen said. “With Colton Hartig on the mound and the way our offense has been, I think we have a really good chance to win.”
This is the third consecutive year that a Northern Kentucky baseball team has made it to the state championship game. West Jessamine defeated Highlands, 10-3, in last year’s final and St. Xavier defeated Simon Kenton, 5-2, in the 2014 title game. The last local team to win a state championship was Covington Catholic in 2002.