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No deficit too big for Bedford

BEDFORD — Entering the bottom of the fifth inning of the District 5-9 Class 3A baseball semifinals, Bedford found itself trailing, 12-5, to Chestnut Ridge with its postseason life on the line.

The Bisons’ coaching staff gathered the team around, reminding them of one simple message they’ve followed all season.

“We have a belief in ourselves that if we do the things well, that we do well, winning is going to take care of itself,” Bedford coach Adam Arnold said. “(Chestnut Ridge pitcher Rhett) Frazier is a heck of an athlete. He gave us trouble there when we played them the first time. We needed to get his pitch count up.”

What a difference one inning made.

Bedford scored 12 unanswered runs — nine in just the fifth inning alone — as it stampeded all the way back to knock off the Lions, 17-12, Tuesday afternoon at Bedford High School.

“That was unbelievable,” Arnold said. “We were three runs away from being 10-runned in this game, and to come back and score 12 unanswered, that’s unbelievable.”

Lions coach Joe Perez felt that pitching was the difference.

“We couldn’t throw strikes that one inning,” he said. “They had good at bats. I tip my hat to them. We lost the game”

The Bisons (12-8) ended up batting 14 times in the frame. It all started with Jesse Arnold and Ashton Dull reaching on a pair of singles. Both of them later scored on a pair of walks to cut the deficit to five. Chase Cessna ultimately gave the Bisons the lead on a single. The Bedford offense was powered by Nate Semanek, who went 3-for-3 with 6 RBIs, including a three-run blast to left field in the third inning.

“He’s been hitting the ball hard this year, Arnold said. “It’s just been right at guys this half of the year. He’s been snake bit.”

“We’ve struggled with some attitude throughout the year, but we’ve really come together as a team as of late, and we’re just going to keep going,” Semanek said.

Bedford’s reward will be a date with either Kane or Brookville on Wednesday, May 29 at Punxsutawney at 4:30 p.m. Those two teams play each other today.

Tuesday’s game will also mark the end of an era for Lions baseball.

Perez plans to coach an AAABA team this summer and then move to Florida to coach baseball down there. When asked why he’s decided to move on from his time in New Paris, he did not mince words.

“I can’t do it no more,” he said.

The Lions, who finished 8-9, were led by Mason McVicker with two hits and two RBIs. Teammate Jacob Mowry added two RBIs.

Jesse Arnold finished with four hits to go with two hits from Ashton Dull, while Jared Dowey added three hits and three RBIs.

CHESTNUT RIDGE (12): M. Whysong lf 321, Harbaugh cf 310, Nicodemous 110, Weaver c 311, Mock cr 010, McVicker ss-p 422, I. Whysong 1b 411, Mowry 2b 311, Weyandt 3b 200, Mickle rf 401, Callihan 300, Frazier p 000, Nicodemous p 000. Totals: 30-12-8.

BEDFORD (17): Dowey cf-p 443, Semanek 333, D. Arnold 1b-cf-p 501, Cessna 3b 300, Chamberlain cr-3b 211, J. Arnold p-1b 524, Dull dh 512, Bebout lf 000, Gresh rf 111, Swaim ss 120, Hall 2b 421. Totals: 33-17-15.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Chestnut Ridge 402 420 0 –12 8 2

Bedford 003 293 X –17 15 2

E — Mowry, McVicker; Hall 2. 2B — McVicker; Semanek, J. Arnold, Dowey. 3B — Dowey. HR — Semanek. RBI — Weaver, McVicker 2, I. Whysong, Mowry 2, Weyandt, Mickle, Dowey 3, Semanek 3, Arnold, Chamber, Arnold 4, Dull 2, Hall.

PITCHING COMPARISON

CHESTNUT RIDGE

Frazier (L) 4 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 5 BB, 3 SO.

McVicker 0.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO.

Nicodemous 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO.

BEDFORD

J. Arnold 1 IP 1 H 4 R 4 ER 2 BB 1 SO.

Dowey 2.2 IP 3 H 6 R 4 ER 6 BB 5 SO.

D. Arnold 3.1 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 2 BB 3 SO.

Records: Chestnut Ridge (8-9); Bedford (12-8).

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