Trey Keegan has been known to call his home runs before he hits them.
But Sunday afternoon, it was Lucas Will (Sandusky) who called it for him.
Keegan (Sandusky 2011) smashed a grand slam out in the bottom of the third inning and the American Legion Post 83 baseball team went on to claim the district title with an 11-1 victory over Galion (32-15). Sandusky (36-13) advances to next week's state tournament.
"Lucas Will was on third base and he just called it for me," Keegan said of his grand slam. "My eyes got real big. It was right down the middle. That's all it really was."
Keegan also contributed the game-ending RBI base hit in the eighth inning that gave Post 83 the extra run it needed to run-rule Galion.
"This is an amazing feeling going back (to the state tournament) for the second straight year with all the guys," he said. "I love playing with them, probably one of my favorite groups I've ever played with in my life and it's just a big win."
Keegan is currently attending the University of South Carolina Sumter but is planning to visit Bowling Green State University to meet with the baseball program.
Starting pitcher Kyle Fluharty (Willard) helped add fuel to Post 83's momentous tournament fire with six strong innings on the mound. Fluharty threw 94 pitches, striking out four, walking two and giving up just four hits.
"I didn't have my best stuff at times but my defense backed me up real well today," Fluharty said. "It's still pretty hot and I threw a lot of pitches so yeah, I was pretty tired."
Logan Shullick had two hits, one an RBI triple. Alex Manner (Bellevue) added two hits and two RBIs.
"They won last year, but to be a part of it, it's a great team feeling," Manner said. "It felt the same as our win (yesterday), positive attitudes all around, everyone was hitting the ball. Flu (Fluharty)threw another good game. They were probably the same but we were competitive and we showed them that we are the better team and we are going to state."
Head coach Mike Shepherd said his team has come full circle this season in terms of team chemistry.
"I think we grew as a family," he said. "You come in and you don't know everybody when you first get here. Now guys are best friends, they are hanging out outside of baseball and they are rooting for each other. Even though a kid may be playing in someone else's spot, he's still rooting for him. That's the family atmosphere and that is the thing that you love as a coach."
Matt Clark (Perkins) came in to relieve Fluharty in the seventh inning, and Sandusky's defense helped retire three in order. Keegan closed for Post 83, also giving up no hits.
"Fluharty was around 100 pitches so we didn't want to overdo it," Shepherd said. "Matt Clark comes in, just keeps the ball low and throws strikes and then Trey is our closer so he came in and threw the last inning for us and pitched well like he always does.
"This win feels great. That's the number one goal is to win district and I am proud of the kids. They fought all season and they played their hearts out in disitricts. We get great support from our legion ... they come out and watch our games. They support us all the time."
Winning the district championship two years in a row could be a big factor when it comes to state tournament experience and Fluharty said it has helped eliminate the nerves.
"I mean this is what we all kinda expected and hoped for and now we got it done and it feels great," he said. "At the beginning of the season ... our defense wasn't doing as well as we needed to but we've definitely stepped it up like we needed to. We were there last year so I am kinda used to it by now."
Keegan agreed.
"If we keep playing like this, we are going to be tough to beat," he said. "I know there are a lot of pretty good teams in the state right now. We've played a lot of them and we just gotta go out and play our game."
