With the season on the line, the Bison stepped up to the task.

On Monday, May 16, the Beachwood baseball team demolished their opponents from Wickliffe by a score of 15-3. The Bison got off to a quick start and never slowed down. With four runs in the first inning and three in the second, the team gained offensive momentum right away.

Six players batted in runs for the Bison, displaying valiant teamwork. Beachwood played with a “small-ball” philosophy of bunting and hitting ground balls that worked quite effectively. Head Coach Todd Butler said this strategy helped boost the team’s offensive efficiency.

“When we buy-in to the [small-ball] approach, we score,” Butler said. “When we don’t, we don’t.  It was nice to see the team not only buy in, but execute. We won the game by hitting in runners on ground balls.”

In addition to the success of the small-ball strategy, Charles Colson and Josh Bialosky also added home runs for the Bison in the seventh inning, scoring one and three runs respectively.

These home runs pushed the previously 8-3 game out of reach for the Blue Devils. And, although the Bison didn’t need these big hits to win the game, they helped sway the team’s momentum for the future.

“It’s a great confidence boost,”  junior catcher Aaron Siegel said. “We knew all season we were capable of putting up that number of runs, and yesterday, we finally executed.”

Siegel added two runs batted in to the total.

On top of the offensive display, senior pitcher Shawn May threw a complete game, striking out nine batters and only allowing four hits. May has been a standout all season on the mound, and this performance shows he is still in dominant form. May has pitched both of the playoff games for the Bison this season.

Overall, this level of execution is what will help the Bison advance further in the playoffs. If the team performs at this level in the upcoming games, they should be able to qualify for the state tournament.

“If we buy in and execute…, you will see this again,” Butler said.

The second-seeded Bison will take on the first-seeded Elyria Catholic Panthers in the district finals on Wednesday, May 18th at 4:30 at Lakewood High School.

The Panthers are coming off a 10-0 win against Trinity High School in the district semifinals. This will be the first matchup between the Bison and the Panthers. Check back with The Beachcomber for more updates.