Monte Ketchum's game-winning single lifts Hernado past Newberry.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published May 12, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Monte Ketchum had been struggling at the plate after a sizzling start.
Turns out, all the Hernando outfielder needed was a pressure situation to get him going again.
After the Leopards surrendered a two-run lead in the top of the seventh, Ketchum singled in the winning run in the bottom half of the inning to lift Hernando to a 5-4 victory over Newberry in a Class 3A, Region 2 quarterfinal on Tuesday.
"I just relaxed and didn't try to do too much with the ball and just hit it," Ketchum said.
Hernando (14-14) will play host Melbourne Florida Air or Orlando Lake Highland Prep in a region semifinal Friday.
"It feels good," said Hernando coach Tim Sims. "It's a team that you like. You've got to like watching them play because you never know what's going to come up negative and then watch them respond to it."
Ketchum hit three home runs in his first six games but went homerless in the next 22 while his batting average dipped to .225. He had been putting in extra work in the batting cage, but it didn't seem to help as he stranded five runners in his first two at-bats.
But after Hernando blew a two-run lead in the top of the seventh, Ketchum made the most of his final opportunity. Brian Dunn drew a leadoff walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Aaron Boyer. Ben Robinson's groundout moved Boyer to second, and he scored on Ketchum's one-out single to rightfield.
The hit brought a sigh of relief from Ketchum, a sophomore in his first varsity season.
"Ketchum's going to be a good player," Sims said. "Experience-wise at this level, he's used to being in comfortable situations where he's physically overmatched with guys. Being 15-18 (years old), they're a little better than him, and it's tough learning.
"Would he have benefitted putting him on JV or bringing him up here and challenging? I'm going to challenge him."
Ketchum took the place of senior Heath Hensley, a three-year letterman who sacrificed his desire to start for the good of the team. But Hensley shared the spotlight Tuesday, pitching three innings of one-hit ball in relief of Andrew Boyer and leaping to snag Ricky Pomeroy's comebacker with a runner on second and one out in the sixth.
Jeff Oleson gave Hernando a two-run lead with a blast to deep centerfield in the first that bounced out of Mitch Wood's glove and allowed Matthew Blanton and James Johnson to score.
The Leopards added runs on Andrew Boyer's RBI groundout in the second and Ben Robinson's suicide squeeze in the fifth.
Newberry (16-12) scratched out two runs on a hit batsman, passed ball, wild pitch, balk and an error in the seventh, but it was not enough.
"The kids battled there at the end to tie it up and give us a chance," Newberry coach Bryan Roundtree said. "But give Hernando credit. They got the big hit."
