Salem bats go cold in the heat

Salem center fielder Troy Gibson thows the ball in against Geneva on Monday. (Morning Journal/Ron Firth)

LOUISVILLE — Salem High School’s run through the postseason playoffs ended Monday when the 15th-seeded Quakers fell 5-2 to No. 11 seed Geneva in a Division II district semifinal baseball game at sun-splashed Andy Aljancic Field.

Salem, which won a sectional title last week upending No. 5 seed Field, bowed out of the season with a 13-11 record.

Geneva (15-5) advances to the district championship game against third-seeded West Branch at 5 p.m. Wednesday. West Branch advanced in the second half of Monday’s district twin bill with a 1-0 win over NDCL.

“I think now this is 10 (wins) in a row and you’ve seen what we’ve done,” said Geneva coach Terry Hejduk. “No team in Geneva history has won a district championship (which the Eagles will play for Wednesday) and last year we won a conference title for the first time in 35 years.”

Salem was outhit 11-4 in the contest as Geneva starter Shea Arkenburg worked four innings and recorded seven strikeouts and two walks in gaining the win. Logan Queen, a left-hander, worked the final three innings of scoreless relief, striking out four of the nine batters he faced.

Salem standout pitcher Carson Rhodes battled illness in the humid, 85-degree weather and took the loss. Rhodes went five innings while striking out eight and walking two. Lance Bailey worked a scoreless inning of relief with three strikeouts and no walks.

“It’s tough,” said Salem coach Tom Hannan. “It’s very hot out here today and when we scored those two runs I was walking over and I see Rhodes (sick) in the dugout and my first mind was I was going to put (Lance) Bailey in for an inning, and being the competitor he (Rhodes) is, he wanted to go back out. It was the heat because if you notice, we’ve had a good spring, but not like this.”

Hannan said Rhodes, a Virginia Tech commit, had a great career at Salem and knows he will do well at the highest level of college baseball.

“I told him I loved him and I’m rooting for him at Virginia Tech,” said Hannan. “He is going to do great things there. He’s not just a pitcher, he’s a baseball player.”

Rhodes led Salem’s offense with a double and Ben Kuboff, Lance Bailey and Troy Gibson added singles.

Things looked good early for the Quakers in Monday’s matchup. The Quakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Kuboff singled to center field and Rhodes stepped to the dish and sent a ringing double to center. However, on the relay, Salem baserunners were caught between home plate and third base. But the relay throw from the Geneva catcher sailed high over the third baseman’s head and both Kuboff and Rhodes scrambled home as Salem led 2-0.

But Geneva answered in its half of the third inning when the Eagles loaded the bases and Curtis Maier had an RBI groundout and Kean Arkenburg followed with an RBI single to center, tying the game at 2-2. The Eagles then took the lead for good at 3-2 as Logan Queen ripped an RBI triple to left.

“They answered back and both of their pitchers were very good.” said Hannan.

The score remained that way until the bottom of the fifth when the Eagles added two insurance runs. Kean Arkenburg walked, Queen had a bloop single and Austin Murphy followed with an infield single for his third hit of the season. A throwing error allowed a run to race home, making it 4-2. Geneva’s Hewitt Wilt had an RBI on a ground ball out as the Eagles’ lead increased to 5-2.

“We just made a couple mistakes that killed us,” said Hannan.

Hannan said the Quakers came back to have a very good season.

“All these guys had a great season,” he said. “Early in the year nobody thought we would do anything. We were 4-6 in the league and easily could have won seven games in the league. We have a winning record and got to the district. This senior class, I’m going to miss them and I really loved coaching them.”

Meanwhile, Geneva now prepares for West Branch in Wednesday’s district final.

“We have a lot of senior leadership and these guys can pitch,” said Hejduk. “They just love each other and they want to be out here. I have eight seniors on the team and they don’t want to be done yet.”

SALEM: 0-0-2-0-0-0-0–2- 4-1

GENEVA: 0-0-3-0-2-0-X–5-11-2

G–Shea Arkenburg, WP (4 IP, 7K, 5BB), Logan Queen (3 IP, 2 K, 1BB) and Johnny Reyes.

S–Carson Rhodes LP (5 IP, 8K, 2 BB), Lance Bailey (1 IP, 3K, 0 BB) and Cyle Burt.