Broncos wrap up league title with sweep Broncos wrap up league title with sweep

By Andy Brown, andybrown@miconews.com

Spring Hill junior Cody Swope slides safely into home in front of Louisburg catcher Kyle Nauman during Tuesday’s doubleheader in Spring Hill. Swope’s run was one of 15 for the Broncos in their 15-5 win in the opener. (Andy Brown / andybrown@miconews.com)

It wasn’t as much about the “if” as much as it was about the “when” for the Spring Hill baseball team.

A victory over Louisburg would give the Broncos the Frontier League crown after what had already been an impressive season. Spring Hill didn’t waste much time to get that accomplished.

The Broncos’ bats came alive early and often during Tuesday’s home doubleheader with Louisburg. Spring Hill rolled to a 15-5 win in the opener and captured the Frontier League title.

In the nightcap, Spring Hill pulled off a miraculous comeback to score two runs in the final inning to secure the 5-4 win and the sweep. The Broncos finished with a 17-2 overall record and a 12-2 mark in league, finishing two games ahead of second place Gardner-Edgerton.

As for Louisburg, the Wildcats (7-9, 6-8) could have wrapped up a No. 3 seed in regionals with a win, but lost a one-run lead in the seventh with two outs and nobody on. Spring Hill’s Ryan Bontrager and Cody Lillich hit back-to-back singles in the seventh for the walk-off win.

“It just comes down to making plays,” Louisburg coach Jeff Lohse said. “We have had several opportunities now to win ball games in the seventh inning and have come away empty handed.”

Not only did Lillich have the game-winning hit in the nightcap, but he also hit a two-run home run earlier in the game and recorded two more hits in the opener. Lillich was the winning pitcher in the opener and got out of numerous jams.

In the opener, both teams had runners on base, but it was the Broncos that took advantage of those opportunities. Spring Hill scored four runs in the first two innings, and used a seven-run fourth inning to put the game away, thanks to a base-clearing double from Tyler Hall and a two-run double from Jordan Miller.

Derrick Koehn led the Broncos with three hits in the opener, while Miller, Bontrager, Lillich and Spencer Haney each added two hits. Cody Larson had two hits, including a triple, to lead Louisburg.

“Spring Hill did come up with big hits to drive in runs,” Lohse said. “We left six runners stranded in the first three innings.”

The Broncos struck first in the nightcap with two runs in the first, but the Wildcats added a run in the third and fifth to tie the game, with two doubles from Larson. Louisburg added two more runs in the sixth on a triple from Duncan Robinson and a double from Kody Cook.

Brian Bacchus also had an RBI single before Spring Hill made its rally in the seventh.

“We went in knowing that they (Spring Hill) were a very good team and that we would have to play two solid games,” Lohse said. “If we win the second game then we would have clinched the No. 3 seed in our regional.”

Instead, the Wildcats earned the No. 5 seed in the Ottawa regional and will play host Ottawa at 6:30 p.m Monday.