Andrew Grimm AROUND THIRD - Edison's Nolan Haught races around third base to score a run in Thursday's regional championship game.

Edison was clinging to a two-run lead and three outs away from a trip to the state tournament, but Fairfield Union scored two runs with one out in the top of the seventh inning to tie Thursday’s Division IV, Region 15 championship game, then came up with a three-run top of the 10th in extra innings to take a 5-2 victory inside Ohio University’s Bob Wren Stadium.

“It’s a really hard way for it to end,” Edison head coach Mike Collopy said. “There’s nothing that we did or didn’t do in the game, it’s just the way it played out. It didn’t go our way. I thought we had good at bats the whole game, especially early.

“Our guys have have shown great competitiveness all year and have been in tight games all year, they’ve been down and come back and they never stopped believing. Unfortunately, today just wasn’t our day.

“There’s only one team in the state that is happy after the last game. For everyone else the road has a tough ending. I thought our guys earned it and deserved it, but life doesn’t always give you what you deserve. Sometimes you work hard for it and deserve it and it doesn’t work out how you hoped, but these guys earned everything they got and have nothing to hang their heads about.

Andrew Grimm THROWING IT IN - Edison's Kayden Russell fires a ball in after tracking it down in left field.

“They should be proud of how they represented themselves, our school, our community, their parents and everyone that supports them.”

The Wildcats, who finish a fine season with a 22-9 mark and went further than any Edison team since 2012, have been able to find a way to win a lot of close games throughout the season, especially in the tournament. They looked poised to do it again when Kyle Long singled in a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, giving Edison a 2-0 lead.

He came up with the bases loaded and no one out after Chase Freeman led the inning off with a single and then Nolan Haught and JD Henderson each bunted for a base hit.

The Falcons (24-6) and pitcher Eli Wolfe were able to escape the inning without any more runs crossing, though.

Edison’s break through came after they had stranded five runners in the first four innings, all in scoring position.

Andrew Grimm MAKING A PLAY - Edison's Bryce Rogers fires across from third for an out.

The Wildcats defense also turned a double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the third and Edison starter Brady Haught was cruising until the seventh. He struck out six and walked two, also hitting two batters going 6 1/3 innings in what ended up a no-decision.

The score remained just 2-0 despite Edison out-hitting Fairfield Union 9-3 going into the top of the seventh, but the Falcons, down to their last three outs, started to get something going.

Codie Andrews and Braxton Rowles led the inning off with back-to-back singles. After a fly out, Eli Hedges laid down a bunt single to load the bases with one out. Ashton Waldrop then drew an RBI walk on a full count to bring the first run across.

Brady Haught departed for Kyle Long, who had the save in Tuesday’s regional semifinal. A pitch, though, got away and the tying run crossed as the runner was already halfway down the line on an attempted squeeze play, evening the score.

Long fired two strikeouts to get out of the inning with the game tied, and worked a 1-2-3 eighth and ninth, aided by a Falcons batter who hit a double being called out for an illegal bat in the eighth.

Andrew Grimm ON THE MOUND - Edison's Brady Haught delivers a pitch on Thursday.

Edison, though, stranded a man in the seventh, left two on in the eighth, and went down in order in the ninth to send things to the 10th, when Fairfield Union broke through and ultimately took the victory when Dylan Chilcote doubled in two runs and Andrews added another run with a sac fly. Joe Blankenship worked a 1-2-3 bottom half to earn a save after Wolfe went nine innings, striking out four.

SENIOR FAREWELL

Thursday’s game was the final one for Edison’s group of nine seniors – Nolan Haught, Brady Haught, Clayton Bokunevitz, Connor Watson, Bryce Rogers, Evan Kimmerle, Freeman, Long and Henderson.  

“I told our seniors no amount of words can describe the impact they have had on our program,” Collopy said. “They have impacted me and coaches personally. They have been outstanding to coach since their freshman year. It’s been than a pleasure to coach them. Their impact is so much more than wins and losses.

“They’re just a really special group. They have impacted everyone, coaches, players beyond just our team, jayvees on down to the youth. They raised the bar for groups to come after them and the effects they’ve had will last a long time. A lot of young kids saw how these guys competed, how they did things, how they carried themselves and played with enthusiasm and the committment they had to the program and the pride they did everything with.

Andrew Grimm REACTION - Edison head coach Mike Collopy reacts from the dugout after his team scored to take the lead in the fifth inning.

“The saddest part, for me, is when you have a group of kids that graduate and play their last game, you don’t get to see them every day and be around them as much anymore. They’ll be around, we have alumni come back and support us, we had a lot of them here today and it was great to see, but it hurts to know it won’t be the same.”

Andrew Grimm UP TOP - Brady Haught is congratulated by a teammate after an inning-ending strikeout.

Andrew Grimm ON THE MOVE - Edison's JD Henderson advances to third base.

Andrew Grimm MAKING CONTACT - Edison's Santino Auteri lines up his swing.

Andrew Grimm EMBRACED - Edison assistant coach Mark Smyth embraces Brady Haught after he exited Thursday's game in the seventh inning.