HAMILTON — The Badin High School baseball team has been sticking to the basics.
It’s gotten the state’s sixth-ranked Rams a fourth straight district championship, so not much is going to change in terms of their approach.
“There’s no secret,” Badin coach Brion Treadway said. “We’ll just go out there and throw strikes and not give anybody free bases. We’re going to stick to our approach of just making contact with the ball. Our guys do a good job of putting the ball in play.”
The Rams take on Indian Hill in a Division II regional semifinal Thursday at 2 p.m. at Mason High School.
Badin (24-6) has won five in a row and eight of its last nine using a stout defensive effort. The Rams haven’t surrendered a run in their three tournament wins and are outscoring opponents 44-0.
Indian Hill (22-7) has only given up two runs in its four tourney victories. The Braves won 15 of their last 17 games heading into the postseason, with the two losses coming against top-ranked Division I Moeller (7-6) and Cincinnati Hills League rival Wyoming (7-3).
Indian Hill won the CHL for a second straight season.
“The journey getting here is so much fun,” Treadway said. “We’ve got a good group of guys. Some of the guys win jobs, and some of the guys lose jobs. It’s May, and they’re all still competing hard. That’s always a good thing to see.”
Badin rides the 1-2 punch of sophomore Caleb Driessen and junior Beau Chaney, who are a combined 8-2 on the mound. Treadway said one of the two will get the start on Thursday.
“Our defense has been good,” Treadway said. “That’s where we’ve always hung our hat. Our guys need to continue to make the routine plays look routine.”
Juniors Kyle Anderson (.419) and Cooper Ollis (.412) are in the Greater Catholic League Coed’s top five in batting average, while sophomore Chandler Taylor sits second with four home runs.
Senior Austin Buckle has a conference-best 29 RBIs, and junior Kade Bowling has knocked in 27 runs.
“At this point,” Treadway said, “we’re just looking to keep the season going as long as we can.”
Indian Hill is led by senior pitchers Nick Rinala (8-0) and Ben Liebel (2-3). The Braves own a .344 team batting average, with Rinala (.405), senior Jonathan Copfer (.400) and freshman Devlan Daniel (.400) leading the way.
The Badin-Indian Hill winner will face the Springfield Kenton Ridge-Plain City Jonathan Alder winner in the regional title game on Friday at 5 p.m. at Mason.
