Fairfield baseball is ‘Elite:’ Lions shut out South Central in regional semifinals

LANCASTER — Where is one to begin when describing the 6-0 shutout win by the Fairfield Lions and their performance in the Division IV Regional Semifinals Thursday at Beavers Field against the South Central Trojans?

The 2024 Fairfield Lions (21-4) are showing how special of a team they really are, as they used an intense style of baseball on the mound behind the pitching of senior Cade Miller, plus at the plate they belted out six runs — two three-run innings — and they collected seven hits in their first regional semifinal game in 22 seasons, and their first regional semifinal win since 1998.

Fairfield added to their baseball history on Thursday (May 30), as the regional semifinal win in 2024 was only the second time the program has won in the “Sweet 16,” last winning a regional game in 1998.

The current Lions didn’t waste any time showing how intense they were going to be on the baseball diamond against the Trojans (17-9), starting with the pitching of Miller, who finished with a 15-strikeout performance from the mound at Beavers Field. This postseason, in two starts, Miller has 26 strikeouts, pitching in both the district and regional semifinals.

Miller was also just one strike away from tossing a no-hitter against South Central, giving up the lone hit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Even with that lone hit against a team which had a .287 season batting average entering the game, Miller’s performance was masterful.

The intensity shown on the mound was second to none, and it was on display from the very start with Miller having two strikeouts in the top of the first inning, and keeping the lone baserunner — who reached on a six-pitch walk — stranded at second base.

For the game, Miller pitched a complete game with no runs on one hit and three walks, throwing 105 pitches, 71 for strikes.

“We started off pretty quick offensively. Cade threw an excellent game, and your readers are going to get sick of hearing this, but it all goes back to the maturity in our pitching rotation and what they've been able to do for us all year,” Fairfield head coach Kyle Zimmerman said. “When you flip the switch and go the other direction here and talk about our offense, we've managed this year several times to produce runs early, and then we kind of stalemate.

“We get the defense behind them that gets the out and gets the wins, but today, we managed to piece it together and tack on three more runs in the later innings, and that was nice to see for a change because at this level, and especially tomorrow night, we're going to have to be able to produce an unlimited number of runs anytime we want to.”

Fairfield put three of their runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning, beginning the game with a line drive double to left field off the bat of Zane Matthews. Matthews finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, two steals and two doubles.

Matthews was the first of seven Fairfield batters to take a turn at the plate in the bottom of the first, as Gabe Fouch (2-for-3, two runs, two steals, one RBI) was next with a single hit to shallow right-centerfield. Next was a double steal by Matthews and Fouch, and on the steal attempt, the catcher committed a throwing error, scoring Matthews from third and allowing Fouch to take the then-unoccupied base at third.

During that at-bat, Miller was hit by a pitch, taking the free base. Fouch scored on the ensuing at-bat as Corbin Willey (1-for-3, two RBI) grounded out to second base for the RBI, scoring Fouch, while Miller advanced a base. With two outs, Miller stole third and scored on a line dive off the bat of Wyatt Willey (1-for-3, one RBI), putting Fairfield ahead by three runs.

After the first inning ended, the dominance of Miller continued from the mound, striking out the next two batters on nine pitches, including an off-speed pitch for the swinging third strike for out one, followed by a fastball for the third strike in the second at-bat. The inning ended with a groundout to third.

Matthews gained a two-out single — on a 2-2 count — in the bottom of the second, but was left on the bases, but still with a three-run lead, Miller went back to work on the mound in the top of the third.

After the first batter reached on an error, Miller shut down the Trojans in the top of the third with South Central bunting for a sacrifice out to move the runner over, followed by a fly ball to right field and a strikeout to finish the half inning.

Miller faced four batters in the top of the fourth with a three-pitch strikeout, but the next batter for the Trojans reached on an error, landing at second base. That runner didn’t faze Miller of the Lions, because the next batter was the victim of Miller’s eighth strikeout.

It was more of the same for the Lions in the top of the fifth with the senior hurler striking out the first two batters on a combined nine pitches, followed by a rare walk. Then it was another strikeout, this time a called third strike on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, keeping the Lions in front with a 3-0 lead.

“When you get started early with your scoring, it sets the tone for the ballgame and puts the other team on their heels,” Zimmerman said. “It also makes you relax a little bit when your team's up because they’ve got a cushion, and then they don't have to worry about producing and we don’t have to swing defensively when we get in that scenario, and that's helped us a lot.

“But once again, I'll go back to the fact that when we come in here tomorrow night, we’re going to have to have hot bats, we’re going to have to play solid defense, we're going to have to put a complete game together because we're going to see a very, very reputable opponent that has that reputation for a reason.”

The aforementioned three-run lead didn’t last, as Fairfield’s bats got hot, doubling their run total, building a six-run advantage once the bottom of the fifth was finished.

Fairfield began the inning with an out on a bunt attempt, but collected themselves, and the top of the batting order was next in line, starting with a double to the left field wall on a two-strike count by Matthews, followed by another two-strike hit, this one by Fouch, earning an RBI by scoring Matthews from second base.

After Fouch’s hit to the centerfield wall, he stole third base, and next Miller reached first base after being hit by a pitch. Corbin Willey stepped to the plate and smashed a single, scoring Fouch, plus moving Miller to second base. Miller eventually scored a run on an errant throw on a fielder’s choice, putting the Lions ahead by six runs.

“Gabe had two big hits tonight, Zane Matthews had three big hits tonight. I've got four different batters with seven hits total,” Zimmerman said. “The big bats stepped up and got it done, with some good running, and that's what ultimately was the deciding factor for us.”

From there, the pitching of Miller and the Lions’ defense took care of things, retiring the Trojans in order with two fly ball outs, plus another strikeout by the senior to end the top of the sixth inning.

South Central put a little pressure on the Lions, as they struck out in the lead-off at-bat of the seventh inning, but reached first on a dropped third strike. That runner went to second on a passed ball with one out, as Miller struck out the next two batters who stepped to the plate.

On a 1-2 count, Miller’s no-hit bid was over with a single off the bat of Bryan Chaffee, followed by a five-pitch walk.

After Miller collected his thoughts, the game ended with a line out to Matthews to put the Lions back into the regional finals for the first time in 26 years. FHS faced Toronto in 1998 in the regional finals, falling 8-2.

“I've been with these guys since they were freshmen in the ball club. Their first year I was an assistant under Coach [Jeremy] McGraw, but I've been their head coach ever since,” Zimmerman said of his Lions. “They were starting in these big games — not regionals, but big district final games — as sophomores, and I've kind of thrown the pressure right directly to them.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, Cade Miller and Gabe Fouch both have responded dutifully. You couldn't ask for a better group of kids, and seeing as how they're related to me, I probably am harder on them at times than I should be, but they have never buckled under the pressure. I've never had to worry about it. They’re two totally different personalities with one common goal, and that's what's really nice, and we’ve got everybody else in that dugout that’s got the same goal too. We got through today. We want to take one game at a time. We just want to keep going one more game.”

The Trojans saw the pitching loss go to Eric Sanders, who in five innings allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts. He threw 69 pitches, 42 for strikes. Aaron Hauler pitched one inning, allowing no runs on no hits and no walks, with one strikeout.

Now the biggest test of the season awaits Fairfield, as they are one win away program history. Fairfield will play in the regional finals (the “Elite Eight”) on Friday, May 31 at 6 p.m. against the reigning Division IV state champion, the Berlin Hiland Hawks, at Beavers Field.

This postseason, Berlin Hiland has defeated Bridgeport, 18-0 (sectional semifinals, 5 innings); Malvern, 7-1 (sectional finals); Toronto, 12-1 (district semifinals, 5 innings); Strasburg-Franklin, 8-5 (district finals); and Reedsville Eastern, 13-2 (regional semifinal, 5 innings).

“Going into tomorrow against Berlin Hiland, I'd like to send a special thank-you to a lot of my coaching friends. Chris Veidt (Whiteoak head coach) especially has helped us with some data because he's seen Berlin Hiland several times,” Zimmerman said. “Ryan McClintic from South Webster, another friend of mine, has been a great help, and a lot of coaches around have been supportive. This is a good group of coaches in the Southeast District. We're happy to be here to represent it, and tomorrow night we're going to play for them.”

BOX SCORE
SCHS    000 000 0 — 0 1 2
FHS    300 030 x — 6 7 2

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