Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

CHILLICOTHE — The hits were there, just not at the right time.
The lack of timely hitting was a problem the Rock Hill Redmen couldn’t overcome in a 7-2 loss to the Minford Falcons in the Division III district championship on Saturday.
“We played well. We just had one bad inning and we made a few mistakes we couldn’t overcome,” said Rock Hill coach Barry Litteral.
“We just didn’t hit the ball when we needed to. They had nine hits and we had eight, but they were able to put their hits together. We didn’t get that two-out hit we’ve got all year. It just came down to timely hits.”
Rock Hill finished the season as Ohio Valley Conference champions and a 17-3 record.
“Minford is a good team and their pitcher did a good job,” said Litteral. “But I’m very proud of our kids. They showed great character. To go 17-3 is hard to beat. We accomplished two of our goals: to win the league and the sectional.
“We’d like to have set some history with a district title, but it just wasn’t meant to be. The kids played hard the whole game. I thought Nick Blankenship came in and did a nice job.”
Minford (22-2) took a 2-0 lead in the second.
Nathan McCormick doubled and Payton Davis singled for a run. Davis came home on a wild pitch.
The Falcons pushed across four runs in the third to make it 6-0.
Voglesong and Davis walked, Darius Jordan singled and Luke Lindamood doubled to clear the bases. Ethan Lauder followed with an RBI single.
The Redmen got a run in the fourth when Seth Nichols, Kaleb Kidd and Logan Hankins all singled.
Rock Hill added a run in the fifth to trail 6-2.
Jaret Bacorn singled, Blankenship put down a sacrifice, Jake Blagg singled and Nichols hit a sacrifice fly.
The Falcons got a run in the bottom of the fifth when Lauder tripled and McCormick singled.
Rock Hill 000 110 0 = 2 7 1
Minford 024 010 x = 7 9 1
Logan Hankins, Nick Blankenship (3) and Kaleb Kidd. Elijah Voglesong and Luke Lindamood. W-Voglesong (ER-2, K-7, BB-1, HBP-1). L-Hankins (IP-2.1, H-5, R-6, ER-4, K-1, BB-4). Blankenship (IP-3.2, H-4, R-1, ER-1, K-2, BB-1). Hitting-RH: Jake Blagg 2-4, Seth Nichols 1-4, Cody Lewis 1-4 2B, Kaleb Kidd 1-4, Logan Hankins 1-3, Kaden France 1-3, Jaret Bacorn 1-2; MHS: Brayden Davis 1-3, Darius Jordan 1-4, Luke Lindamood 1-3 2B, Ethan Lauder 2-3 3B, Nathan McCormick 2-3 2B, Payton Davis 1-2, Elijah Voglesong 1-2.