CovCath enjoys clutch 2-1 win over Highlands

Two clutch hits proved to be the difference Thursday in Covington Catholic's 2-1 baseball win over Highlands.

The Colonels, No. 2 in the Enquirer coaches' poll, trailed the fifth-ranked Bluebirds for 3 1/2 innings, but Conner Brown's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth and Max Boyle's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth helped lift senior Ben Heppler to his fourth win in his second complete game.

Highlands took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first by playing small ball. With runners on the corners and two outs, Todd Ramey purposely got in a rundown between first and second to allow Brady Murray a chance to run home. Boyle, who allowed Murray to reach on a throwing error, came up short on his throw to home, and was removed from the game for junior Adam Ruwe.

That would be all the Bluebirds could muster on offense. Heppler, whose first complete game came earlier this year in a 5-3 win over Moeller, had an outing typical of his style – lots of strikes, great accuracy and varying speeds. Despite not striking a single hitter out, he gave up only the one unearned run and yielded just three hits, with one of those being a bunt single. His change-up, which has a big drop in it, induced several ground balls in key moments.

"I just worked up and down in the zone and tried to change eye levels, get them to hit ground balls," Heppler said. "I felt like I had my change-up from the beginning on the outside corner, and I could drop it down out of the zone too if I wanted."

After Grant Schreiver led the inning off with a single and Nate Bailey was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fourth, CovCath head coach Bill Krumpelbeck called on senior Conner Brown to pinch-hit for Ruwe. Brown pulled a line drive into left field to bring Schreiver home to tie it up.

Boyle was given a chance to redeem himself for his costly errors when he was re-entered at second base in the top of the fifth for Brown, and he didn't disappoint.

In the top of the sixth, after Highlands' Evan Allen led off the inning with a single, Boyle ranged to his right to scoop a sharply hit grounder up the middle by Jake Whitford, stepped on second and then fired over to first for a double play.

Junior Noah Galvin led off the bottom of the sixth for CovCath with a standup double to deep left center. After a bunt single by Nick Pope moved him over to third, Boyle fell behind 0-2 in the count before singling into right center to bring in the game-winning run.

"They scored their run off us in the first inning off of two of my errors, so I was just thinking that I had to get it back for Hepp, because I didn't want to make him have a loss," Boyle said. "I haven't been hitting well all year, but I just saw two straight curveballs and knew he'd throw me a third one, and I just knocked it into right field."

Heppler took the Bluebirds down in order with a pop-up and a pair of groundouts to the left side of the infield to end the game in the top of the seventh.

CovCath finishes the season against No. 8 Ryle on Friday, while Highlands will play No. 4 Conner on Friday and No. 9 Simon Kenton on Saturday.

View from the sideline: Krumpelbeck inserted sophomore Tyler Langguth into the lineup for his first varsity start on Thursday. "Defensively we're averaging four or five errors every game. We're just trying to find the right combination," said Krumpelbeck.

Krumpelbeck was confident putting in senior Conner Brown to collect a critical pinch hit in the fourth inning: "Conner hits well in batting practice and he can handle pressure, so I gave him a shot. He came through and did a great job."

Player of the game: Heppler was outstanding all game. Without overpowering stuff, he kept Highlands' hitters off balance.

"We were struggling. We lost bad to Beechwood and Dixie the last two games in a row, so we needed a win here in the worst way," Krumpelbeck said. "Our bats have stopped hitting, so we needed a pitching performance."

Play of the game: Boyle's big hit was not only a chance to redeem himself; it was the difference in the game.

"He's been swinging the bat well the past few games, so I was hoping he could get one out of the infield. That was our goal, so he did a great job," said Krumpelbeck.

Quotables: Highlands coach Jeremy Baioni on his starting pitcher, Joey Cochran, who had an impressive outing as well: "We know every day we're going to get Joey to go out there and give us five or six quality innings. He's going to keep the ball down, change speeds and give us a chance to win the game. He's thrown well all year."

Boyle said that the win was big for the Colonels' momentum heading into the postseason: "We always love beating Highlands. It's always fun. We've been struggling lately. We lost two in a row, so we had to get a win before senior night tomorrow and district on Monday."

WP: B. Heppler (4-0). LP: Cochran. Leaders: C-B. Heppler, 2-4. Records: C 29-6, H 17-16.