CHILLICOTHE — The Valley Indians have become a staple at the regional tournament stage in recent years.

Following their 6-3 win over Portsmouth in the Division III, Southeast No. 2 district final on Thursday, the Indians earned the program’s third straight district crown — and fourth since the 2018 season.

Valley (18-7) is back in the regional stage because of their fight, according to head coach Nolan Crabtree.

Indeed, after a scoreless first four innings, Crabtree’s Indians kept fighting and batting — plating each of their six runs in their final three trips to the plate to upend the No. 2-seeded Trojans.

“We kept fighting. That was the reason we’ve had tournament success, these guys didn’t give up,” Crabtree said, following the win .”We had guys up and down the lineup coming up with big plays, getting on base. Extremely proud of their effort. Consummate team performance, been harping on them for awhile to play for each other and they did that tonight.”

Both teams combined for 18 hits in Thursday’s district final — 10 for Valley, and eight for Portsmouth.

Valley seniors Chris Queen and Hunter Edwards delivered multi-hit games for the Indians, while senior Colt Buckle reached base three times (one hit and two walks).

Whether it was by hit, a walk, or Portsmouth error, each of Valley’s nine batters reached base at least once.

A two-out, two-RBI single by Queen gave Valley its first lead in the fifth at 2-1.

Freshman Carson Powell added another Valley run with an RBI-double, putting the Indians ahead 3-1 in the fifth.

“Get a guy on in Colt Buckle, works a walk, Jaekyn (Ridout) gets hit by a pitch, takes second and third on a passed ball. And Chris Queen, my goodness. A senior comes up with a huge two-out hit. That lifted the pressure. Even with them scoring runs, it was a totally different atmosphere in the dugout. Was extremely proud in our guys not giving up and showing a district championship pedigree.”

Portsmouth would tie the game in the fifth following a Trevin Brooks RBI-double, scoring senior Reade Pendleton.

Brooks scored as the tying run on a wild pitch by Powell.

Outside of a couple of occasions in the fifth, the freshman right-hander Powell was stellar for the Indians in relief of starting pitcher Carter Nickel.

He allowed two hits, issued one walk, and struck out four Portsmouth batters in two and two-thirds innings.

“Carter battled, felt like Carson was a change of pace. They didn’t really hit Carter hard, he did everything we could ask of him. At that point with a lead, felt like I needed to make a change,” Crabtree said. “Carson came in and wasn’t sharp at the beginning, then he got loose and really got in a groove. They compliment each other well and he was a great change of pace. He’s going to be a good pitcher for a long time, him and Jaekyn following in what George (Arnett) and Carter (Nickel) have done for three seasons.”

Valley re-took the lead in the sixth on an RBI-single by Buckle, scoring Edwards who singled with one out.

Buckle scored as Valley’s fifth run with two outs in the sixth — on Portsmouth’s only error.

In the seventh, Portsmouth allowed another run when Buckle drew a walk with the bases loaded, scoring senior George Arnett.

“I think a couple of key at-bats for Valley where they worked the count and drew some walks,” Portsmouth coach Aaron Duncan said, after the game. “Thought we were going to have an easy inning, close call where they draw a walk. Three runs later…Credit to Valley and Coach Crabtree, I thought they did a good job of playing small ball and moving some guys around.”

Portsmouth closes its season with a 24-4 record — and as Division III district runner-up.

“The thing I’ll miss most tomorrow morning is that I won’t be able to go practice with my son and five other seniors who’ve been with me since Little League,” Duncan said. “That’s the hard part about this business, but I told them to be proud of what they accomplished. They won 59 games in three seasons after losing a year to COVID, and to me that’s on them. They’ve worked hard to do that and have left the program in a lot better shape than they found it.”

Valley advances to this week’s D-III, Region 11 semifinals — where it’ll face Wheelersburg on Thursday (June 1) at 11 a.m. at VA Memorial Stadium.

“It’s special. We go at it and prepare, this is what we play for. This is what we want to be the standard for our program and we’ve had kids buy in,” said Crabtree. “Won eight straight district games at this point, and that’s not easy to do. When these kids come out and play for each other and give it their all like they did tonight, we’re a tough team to beat.”

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BOX SCORE

Valley 000 032 1 — 6 10 1

Portsmouth 001 020 0 — 3 8 1

W: Carson Powell (V) 2.2IP, 2H, 0ER, 1BB, 4K; L: Vinnie Lonardo (P) 5.1IP, 7H, 5ER, 3BB, 7K

Valley hitting

Jaekyn Ridout 0-4, R

Jace Copley 0-3, BB

Chris Queen 2-4, 2RBI

Carson Powell 1-4, RBI

Tate Queen 1-3, BB

George Arnett 1-4, R

Hunter Edwards 2-4, R

Gabe McNeil 2-4

Colt Buckle 1-1, 2R, 2RBI, 2BB

Portsmouth hitting

Jacob Roth 2-3, R, BB

Tyler Duncan 1-4

Reade Pendleton 2-4, R

Trevin Brooks 1-4, R, RBI

Amari Harmon 1-4

Vinnie Lonardo 1-3

Zach Roth 0-2, BB

Collin Perry 0-0, BB

Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved