The 2024 Ohio Valley Conference baseball outright champion Portsmouth Trojans

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

PORTSMOUTH — Aaron Duncan didn’t get the traditional water cooler bath —because simply put his Trojan players missed when they attempted the rushed pour.

But, Duncan did show off his dance moves —right at home plate in fact.

“I’m a happy guy right now. Deandre (Berry) kinda caught me off guard and they missed me with the water cooler, but I am a good sport so I told them I would go ahead take it and let them drench me. Deandre then said ‘Coach, you have do a dance move.’ I tried to do the one he did between third and home,” said Duncan, the Portsmouth High School head baseball coach, with a laugh and smile. “It probably wasn’t very pretty and it was in the mud, but I wanted to make this memory for the kids and let them get a good laugh out of it. We’ll enjoy this one.”

This season has been nothing short of memorable for Duncan and the young Trojans, as they accomplished outright their first goal on Friday at Portsmouth High’s Hatcher Field.

In a makeup matchup against the South Point Pointers, the Trojans captured their first league championship in baseball in three full decades —sticking the Pointers 13-6 to win their first Ohio Valley Conference title, either outright or shared since they joined the conference in 2015.

Portsmouth raised its stellar record to 17-4, and completed OVC play atop the standings at 12-2 —the only losses being a 12-9 home decision against Ironton on April 8, and 3-1 at Fairland 11 days later.

Before Friday, the most recent baseball league championships for the Trojans were in 1992 and 1993 — when Portsmouth played as a member of the now-defunct Ohio Kentucky Athletic Conference.

Duncan indeed was a senior on that 1992 Trojan team.

He has now guided his alma mater back from the baseball doldrums —as he took over at a time when the proud Portsmouth program had unfortunately fallen on hard times.

And, this is an extremely young Trojan team too —with only three seniors which are regular full-time starters.

Last season, Portsmouth played at Fairland for the OVC championship —and lost in the eighth inning, and amid the darkness, to finish as runner-up.

This time, the Trojans closed the deal.

One of those three seniors, Zach Roth, presented Duncan with a signed game baseball —before Duncan’s postgame media interview with The Portsmouth Daily Times.

“When we started, when Zach (Roth) was a freshman, we didn’t have many kids in the program. But we’ve built the program up to get to this point. We were the doormat of the league and now we’re the outright champions. That’s a credit to the kids on this team and all the work they’ve put in to get better,” he said. “Our kids kept battling, and a lot of those kids are still young kids out there playing for us. Our three seniors —Deandre, Zach and Nate Berry —all played important roles. I am really happy for these seniors. It’s fun to see them have happiness and celebrate this.”

The Trojans scored in every inning — off two South Point pitchers — sans the sixth, when Brayden Hanshaw sat them down 1-2-3.

Otherwise, Portsmouth played primarily Duncan’s style small-ball, but mixed in some power points as well — scoring single runs in innings one and four, four runs apiece in innings two and five, and sandwiched in a three-spot in the third.

Of their 13 runs, the Trojans earned eight off of Xathan Haney —and four of five earned off reliever Corey Otzenberger.

The Trojans tallied eight hits, as both South Point primary pitchers threw three innings apiece —with both throwing a pair of wild pitches.

Haney struggled further from the start — with allowing six hits, three walks and hitting two Trojans.

Colin Perry, the Portsmouth designated hitter, had two of the Trojans’ eight hits —including an RBI-single in the first, followed by a two-run double in the fifth.

He also scored twice, as did Camron Williams, who had three RBI as well —with a second-stanza two-run single.

Jacob Roth and Trevin Brooks both crossed the plate twice too.

Portsmouth sophomore Trevin Brooks (5)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

It’s all encompassing of Duncan’s “pressure bursts pipes” philosophy.

“High school kids, forcing them to field a baseball and throw it, that’s hard to do. We want to keep the ball out of the air. We want to put the ball in play on the ground and let’s use our speed. Our philosophy is ‘pressure bursts pipes’. We want the pipes to burst on the other team. Tonight, you could feel that,” said the coach. “When we started getting some momentum and had some big innings, they got frustrated. That’s part of our game. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but more often than not it does. Our team batting average is close to .390. Through the lineup, one through nine, our kids can run. That’s the type of lineup I want to be able to put together. Having nine guys that if they hit the ball in the infield, they can beat it out and apply pressure. We work on not striking out, taking a two-strike approach and I just challenge them. Put the ball in play and make the other team field it. That’s a lot better than striking out when we don’t have to. Our kids have accepted that challenge, and have bought in what we’re trying to teach here and the offensive style we want to play.”

The Trojans took their largest leads of 9-0 following four and 13-4 after five —as the Pointers scored four times off senior starter and left-handed pitching ace Deandre Berry in the fourth, and for single markers off sophomore reliever Roth in the fifth and sixth.

Portsmouth sophomore Jacob Roth (3)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

But Berry pitched a gem otherwise, tossing the first four and two-thirds frames — before giving way to Roth for the final two and one-thirds.

Portsmouth senior pitcher Deandre Berry (10)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Berry pitched the Trojans to a 9-3 victory over South Point on April 29, as the rematch at Portsmouth was originally slated to be played the next day —but was rained out until Friday.

That allowed Berry to come back, as he did walk three and hit one —allowing four fifth-inning runs on all three hits he gave up.

But he struck out four, assisted on a 1-6 double play in the first to keep the Pointers at the minimum three —and then faced four Pointers in the second, prior to retiring them 1-2-3 in the third and fourth.

Around a balk in the fifth, he did get the first two outs —before his three straight singles, his hit batter, and third and final walk.

But Berry wanted the ball, Duncan explained.

“Deandre pitched really well against these guys on Monday, and did the math and said he could come back on Friday if we played them again on Friday. Now ultimately, I care more about his health and his arm than I do a championship, but he said ‘Coach, I am a senior and I want the ball.’ So his arm was good and he wanted it,” said Duncan. “We’ve developed some pitching along the way. Jacob Roth and Trevin Brooks and Leelind Scurlock are all sophomores that love baseball, but Deandre is the bonafide ace.”

And, these Trojans definitely wanted this OVC crown —just like they wanted to douse Duncan with water, and see the skipper breakdance at the plate.

Portsmouth junior Malachi Loper (1)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

“These kids are willing to work, and they don’t want to stop here with just an OVC championship. They will say let’s win that district championship this year. Once you get to that point, anything can happen,” he said. “I’ve got a good group to work with right now.”

* * *

South Point 000 041 1 — 6 5 1

Portsmouth 143 140 X —13 8 2

SPHS: Xathan Haney 3+IP, 8R, 8ER, 6H, 2HB, 3BB, 0IBB, 2WP, 0K, 22BF; Corey Otzenberger 2IP, 5R, 4ER, 2H, 0HB, 4BB, 0IBB, 2WP, 2K, 12BF; Brayden Hanshaw 1IP, 0R, 0ER, 0H, 0HB, 0BB, 0IBB, 0WP, 1K, 3BF

PHS: Deandre Berry 4 2/3IP, 4R, 3ER, 3H, 1HB, 3BB, 0IBB, 0WP, 4K, 21BF; Jacob Roth 2 1/3IP, 2R, 1ER, 2H, 0HB, 1BB, 0IBB, 2WP, 2K, 10BF

W — Deandre Berry; L — Xathan Haney

Reach Paul Boggs at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1926, by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved