by Devan Matthews
Correspondent
The Nordonia High School baseball team came close to upsetting Hudson in a Division I sectional semifinal May 14.
However, errors, which have plagued the Knights all season long, haunted them again in an 8-7 road loss to the Explorers.
To illustrate that fact, Hudson scored its eight runs on only two hits. Nordonia, meanwhile, banged out nine hits in a losing effort.
The Knights entered the contest as the 12th seed in the Division I district tournament at Hudson. The Explorers were the eighth seed.
Nordonia's starting pitcher, Alex Smith, was dominating at times, finishing with 13 strikeouts. However, the Knights were less than stellar in the field.
The game was tied 7-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Hudson scored the winning run without the benefit of a hit.
Nordonia dropped a pop-up in the infield, putting an Explorer on base. He advanced to second and then to third on two passed balls, and he reached home on a ground ball to give Hudson the victory.
According to Nordonia head coach Eric Cormell, the Explorers were extremely adept at manufacturing runs.
"They did a good job of getting on base and getting into scoring position," said Cormell, "whether that was because of an error or a walk or another way. We definitely hurt ourselves with errors and other mistakes."
Ben Shoop led Nordonia offensively. He was 3-for-4 with three singles, an RBI and a run scored.
In addition, Bryce Postolka went 2-for-3 with two singles and a stolen base.
Overall, Cormell was encouraged by the Knights' performance against Hudson, even with the multitude of errors. However, he also stated that the players need to take the next step in their development, and that step might be mental in nature as opposed to physical.
"We played a good game against a good team," said Cormell. "We're still at the point where our guys are learning that they're capable of beating these teams. Unfortunately, we're running into some mental roadblocks.
"Our guys are still thinking, maybe in the back of their minds, that they're not supposed to be here or that they're not supposed to be winning. Luckily, one of the things we took away from the Hudson game is that we are capable of beating these teams. I think our guys understand that now."
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