One productive inning enough for Shenandoah to defeat Triton Central at Madison Regional

MADISON -- One five-batter stretch in the fifth inning was enough to eliminate Triton Central from the Madison Regional.

Class 2A, No. 7 Shenandoah trailed Triton Central 1-0 after four innings and Bryce Haney was in a groove.

With seven pitches, the left-hander quickly secured the first two outs of the fifth, but all was about to unravel for the Tigers, who were playing in their first regional game since 2012.

Maddux Davis singled and Brandan Conyers, the ninth hitter in the Shenandoah lineup, doubled to tie the game. That brought the top of the lineup around for a third time to face Haney.

Leadoff hitter Drew Fredenburg singled to score Conyers for the Raiders’ first lead of the game. Louisville recruit Collin Osenbaugh walked and Aiden Coffey singled to score Fredenburg to give the Raiders a 3-1 advantage it never relinquished.

Osenbaugh handled it from there on the mound. The Tigers scratched a run across the plate in the fifth before the hard-throwing right-hander struck out six of the final nine batters he faced to secure a 4-2 victory and the program’s first semistate appearance since 1987.

Listen to the GIANT fm broadcast of the regional championship game at: https://www.giant.fm/shelby-county/news/sports-news/triton-central-vs-shenandoah-2a-baseball-regional-audio/

Eli Sego gave Triton Central (20-6) a quick solid punch off Osenbaugh when he launched his first career home run in the bottom of the first inning.

“That was a great way to start. That gave us some momentum,” said Triton Central head coach Justin Bergman.

Haney cruised through the first four innings, only allowing two Raiders to reach base. The fifth inning proved to be the downfall.

“Three balls to left field,” lamented Bergman of three of Shenandoah’s four hits in the inning. “We knew Osenbaugh was going to be tough and Bryce threw a great game. He came out and was on. We didn’t want their 1-2 hitters to beat us, and I don’t think they beat us at the plate but the bottom of their lineup beat us. It’s one of those things where they made some more plays than we did.”

Sego singled in the fifth inning, stole second and third and scored when Shenandoah catcher Ashton Renz’s throw sailed over third base into left field.

Shenandoah again scored in the seventh inning with two outs. Fredenburg singled; Osenbaugh reached on a throwing error; and Coffey reached on a fielding error that allowed Fredenburg to score.

Kellan Dishman led off the Triton Central seventh inning with a double but Osenbaugh closed the game with three consecutive strikeouts. He scattered six hits and one walk while striking out 11.

Shenandoah (22-4) will face No. 3 Evansville Mater Dei (21-7) in game two of the Castle Semistate Saturday at the University of Evansville. In the semistate opener, Providence (15-7) will face University (20-11).

Triton Central loses five seniors to graduation. They helped the program make its first regional appearance in more than a decade. The loss Saturday afternoon will provide added motivation for a program with several key players returning to the lineup.

“This was huge. The senior class has won 66% of the games they’ve played in at Triton Central,” said Bergman. “It’s a neat accomplishment for them but you don’t know what to expect until you experience it. Today, they experienced it and the importance of every out, not playing 22 outs or 23 outs but playing 21 outs.”

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