It seems only fitting that a Gamble would take a chance that paid off big.
With Gavin Redden struggling early in an eventual 4-2 loss to Battle Creek, Wayne American Legion Post 43 Seniors coach Robbie Gamble made a bold move that wound up playing a key role in the Seniors making it to the Class B American Legion state tournament.
Gamble substituted Redden two pitches shy of the 60-pitch plateau that would have forced him to rest his No. 2 starter for three days, which would have made him unavailable to pitch if Wayne made it to Tuesday’s final day of the Class B, Area 4 tournament.
The move paid off.
After Wayne survived a wild 5-4 win over Albion and bombed Columbus Lakeview 15-3 in Tuesday’s first game, Redden was fresh and ready to deliver and came up big, throwing a two-hit shutout and getting plenty of offensive help as the Post 43 Seniors avenged their only tournament loss with a 12-0 whitewashing of Battle Creek at Pawnee Park to claim the area title and advance to state tournament play this weekend in Pierce.
“Pitching is huge for us,” Gamble said after getting drenched with ice water by his players. “We lost our ace (Brooks Kneifl) to Nebraska, but honestly, I’ve seen (Redden) pitch so many times and I thought he wasn’t as sharp as he could be on Saturday, so we made the decision to keep him under 60 (pitches) and hopefully he’d be available for us on Tuesday and that’s what happened and it really worked out for us.”
Wayne’s bats also came loaded for bear Tuesday.
After managing just 26 runs total in their first four game, Wayne erupted early and often in both games. Of the 27 runs they scored in the two five-inning games, a dozen came in the opening frame.
That they did it against starting pitchers who threw more off-speed stuff than fastballs was a pleasant surprise to the Wayne mentor.
“We were a little worried to start off when we saw who Lakeview was throwing (Nicholas Zoucha) because we like to see hard-throwing pitchers, but the kids came out relentless and they were not going to let us leave this place without a trophy,” Gamble said.
Wayne wasted no time as Redden singled, Devin Anderson doubled and Kaleb Moormeier singled to score Redden with the first run of the game. After Aiden Liston walked to load the bases, Wyatt Heikes scored Anderson with a sacrifice fly and Jase Dean and Jaxson Kneifl followed with run-scoring hits of their own. Dean singled home two and Kneifl followed with a double to plate Dean and make it 5-0.
Heikes struggled through the first inning and allowed two runs. He threw 22 pitches in the opening frame, but needed just 35 pitches over the next four innings.
“At 5 p.m. the heat was unbearable and he struggled a little early, but he got it together and that’s all we could ask of him,” Gamble said.
In the bottom of that first inning, Lakeview scored its two runs on a sacrifice. bunt play. Kneifl, playing second base, raced over to first to cover the bag and collided awkwardly with the Lakeview runner, suffering a sprained wrist that took him out of the game. Gavin Anderson came on and immediately got a putout and an assist to help the Wayne defense avoid any further damage.
Wayne led 6-3 in the fourth when the offense came alive again, highlighted by a two-run single by Dean and a wild pitch that scored Moormeier. In the fifth, Wayne batted around for the second time in the game and scored six runs, highlighted by two-run singles from Moormeier and James Dorcey and a sacrifice fly by Dean, who had five RBIs in the win.
Moormeier had three of Wayne’s 13 hits, driving in three and scoring twice. Heikes and Dorcey each drove in two runs, Anderson had two hits and scored twice and Redden also scored twice.
The hot bats and solid pitching carried over into the Tuesday night finale against top-seeded Battle Creek, who sent Wayne to the losers bracket with a 4-2 win on Saturday.
Wayne sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning, with the first seven reaching safely thanks to three hits, three walks and the first of seven Battle Creek errors. Liston had a two-run single and Anderson, Dorcey, Redden and Calvin Starzl all had RBI singles to stake Wayne to the early seven-run lead.
Wayne added two more in the third as Battle Creek committed three errors in the inning. A three-run fifth that included two more Battle Creek errors helped to end the game on the eight-run rule and send Wayne (23-8) to Pierce for the Class B state tournament.
Redden and Heikes both had two hits to lead Wayne’s nine-hit attack. Liston and Devin Anderson each had two RBIs and Redden, Anderson, Liston and Heikes each scored two runs.
Gamble said the team came together after Saturday’s loss and played outstanding baseball in winning their last four games to make it to state.
“Our defense was great behind both Wyatt and Gavin tonight,” he said. “I said earlier today that, of the three teams that we left coming into today, I’d take this team hands down with what they’ve been in. They lost in 10 innings with a chance to go to the finals last summer, and this spring were one inning away from the finals in high school ball, so they’ve been in these high-pressure situations and I knew they were going to come out and do what we expected them to do. I didn’t expect us to eight-run Battle Creek, but I’m glad we did.”
Unofficially, Wayne (23-8) is set to play York Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Pierce. The double-elimination tournament runs through Wednesday.
