COAL GROVE – Roger Snyder looked at the scoreboard, then looked at his team and smiled.

Tuesday, May 09, 2000

COAL GROVE – Roger Snyder looked at the scoreboard, then looked at his team and smiled.

At the beginning of the season, Snyder never expected to be smiling at the end. But then his young Fairland Dragons came to life.

Overlooked in the preseason predictions, Fairland beat the Coal Grove Hornets 13-2 Monday to earn a share of the Ohio Valley Conference baseball championship along with the South Point Pointers.

Fairland and South Point finished 8-4 in the OVC. The Dragons are 14-5 overall.

"Even I didn’t expect this," Snyder said. "We were hoping for a winning season. When we got down 0-2 in the conference, we were just hoping for respectability.

"But the way our youngsters came on at the end of the season, I’m just so happy for them. They work hard, they play hard, they play defense, and they root for each other. It’s fun to coach them."

Josh Dunfee did a workman’s job as he pitched a five-hitter, struck out eight, and walked four.

"Josh threw the ball well. He got in a couple of tough spots, but he worked himself out of it," said Snyder. "And we made some big defensive plays. Toby Morrison made a couple at third and Kyle Leadmon at second. And we hit the ball up an down the lineup. Everyone in the lineup had a base hit. That’s kind of rare."

Fairland took the lead in the first with a pair of runs.

Ryan Boso reached on an error to start the inning, moved up on a passed ball, and scored on a hit by Jeremy Louden. Louden stole second, went to third on an error, and Morrison put down a suicide squeeze bunt.

The Hornets got a run back in the bottom of the inning on a 400-foot home run by Jarrod Keaton.

But the Dragons scored five in the third and were never headed.

Leadmon doubled and Morrison singled for the first run. A passed ball sent Morrison to second and he scored on J. W. Jones’ double.

Dunfee walked and Tim Adkins had an RBI single. Both runners moved up on a throw home and scored on Boso’s base hit.

Coal Grove made it 7-2 with a run in the fourth.

Dean Mader and Josh Keaton walked, David Webb got an infield hit, and Scott Lewis walked to force in a run.

"We were on the ropes in the fourth, but Josh struck out the next two and then got the next guy to pop out. That was a key. They could have had a big inning there," Snyder said.

Fairland put the game away with six runs in the sixth on the strength of three home runs.

K. C. Jones had a lead off home run, then Boso singled and Louden cranked a two-run homer.

Leadmon was safe on an error, Morrison reached on a force play, Shepherd singled, and Dunfee hit a two-out, three-run homer.

Fairland plays at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Wheelersburg in the Division III sectional finals.

Fairland 205 006 – 13 12 1

Coal Grove 100 100 – 2 5 3

Josh Dunfee and Jarred Schneider. Jarred Keaton, Eric Tackett (5) and Dean Mader. W-Dunfee (8-K, 4-W). L-Keaton (7-K, 3-W). 2B-Fairland: Kyle Leadmon, J. W. Jones; Coal Grove: Harrison. HR-Fairland: Jeremy Louden, Josh Dunfee, K. C. Jones; Coal Grove: Jarred Keaton. Hitting-Fairland: Ryan Boso 2-4 (2 RBI), Jeremy Louden 2-4 (3 RBI), Kyle Leadmon 1-4, Toby Morrison 1-3 (2 RBI), Stuart Shepherd 2-4, J. W. Jones 1-4 (RBI), Josh Dunfee 1-3 (3 RBI), Tim Adkins 1-1 (RBI), K. C. Jones 1-2 (RBI); Coal Grove: Jarred Keaton 1-3 (RBI), Josh Keaton 1-1, David Webb 2-3, Harrison 1-1.