But mostly there was silence in the third-base dugout at Richards Park in the moments following their 14-6, season-ending loss to Edgewood in a Class 2A Region II quartterfinal playoff game Friday night.
A team that had battered and bruised opponents nearly all season had finally met its match.
The ninth-ranked Trojans’ high-scoring offense didn’t get going until it trailed by double digits. And by that point, even with a pair of home runs by junior Justin Gregory it was too little, too late.
Troy, which was the undefeated champion of District 16-2A, ended its season at 19-5, losing in the regional quarterfinals for the second straight season.
“Obviously we didn’t get off to the start we wanted,” Troy coach Steve Sebesta said. “They scored early and often.”
Fresh off another run-rule victory in the area round, the Trojans never found the rhythm they’d had at the plate and on the mound all season.
The Bulldogs (19-9) had one run on the scoreboard after just three pitches in the first inning, added a pair of runs in the second and three more in the third - including two bases-loaded walks - to make it 6-0.
Starter Jordan Mattke lasted 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and seven hits. Relievers Tyler Hoelscher in the third, Dylan Sebek in the fifth and Zach Lynch in the seventh didn’t fare much better against the hard-hitting Bulldogs.
In all, Edgewood pounded out 17 hits, including five doubles.
The Bulldogs could have had another run but Tyler Garrison was called out in the seventh after not touching home plate.
The only offense the Trojans had early off starter Brandon Bell was a 360-foot homer to straightaway center field by Gregory in the fourth. But that only made it 6-1.
Bell gave up six runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings. Before allowing five runs in the bottom of the seventh he had permitted just three hits.
Troy had chances to chip into its deficit in the fifth and sixth but hit into inning-ending double plays each time.
The Trojans cut into what had become a 13-run deficit in the seventh by scoring five runs, including a three-run homer by Gregory.
“We hit the ball hard in the late innings,” Sebesta said. “They just made double plays on it. Sometimes that’s the way it goes in baseball. They didn’t quit. There’s no doubt they didn’t quit."
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
