McKinney struck out the side to begin Wednesday’s postseason game, yelling out, ‘Let’s go,’ to his teammates on the walk back to the dugout.
“Can’t give (Steinke) enough credit,” McKinney said. “He’s had a great career, and last time we played, it was another 1-0 battle. I think we both had 11 strikeouts, so I thought it was going to be a little different of a game. You had to get ready to go, and I came ready to have my best stuff tonight to show up for my team and get us to the next game.”
McKinney spun 4⅔ shutout innings, retiring the first 11 Indians he faced as Tippecanoe run-ruled Piqua 12-0 in five frames. He allowed only one baserunner after a hard-hit groundball rolled up the glove-side arm of shortstop Preston Zumwalt with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.
McKinney mixed a slider with his fastball that caught Piqua off balance. He totaled eight strikeouts, and he also had run-producing hits in the first and second innings going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
“Defense played great,” McKinney said. “I had good stuff tonight, and like I said, we came ready to play. We hit the ball well off a great pitcher that’s had a great career at Piqua, and we came ready to play. We came ready to show we’re not backing down. We’re here to play.”
Zumwalt led off the bottom half of the first inning with a single up the middle as Tippecanoe strung five-straight hits and opened the scoring after McKinney brought the leadoff batter home on a single to right field. An RBI single by Landon Muhlenkamp and sacrifice fly by Brady Liskey put Tippecanoe ahead 3-0.
The Red Devils scored two runs in the second inning before plating four more in the third. Tippecanoe coach Cameron Dickens said McKinney was “extremely efficient” and the Red Devils offense, which had five days rest between its last game, continued to push for more in the batter’s box.
“He set us up for a moment, one, in that first inning with a quick one to kind of jump on them, and then the rest just took over,” Dickens said. “I mean, I saw it in the kids’ eyes when they got here. They were ready to go, and you never know how it’s going to go when you see a team for the third time in a season, but I’m proud of their focus. I’m proud of their intensity. I’m proud of how they came out ready to fight from moment one.”
Steinke was relieved after three innings as Tippecanoe led 9-0. He finished with four punch outs.
“They got on us early,” Piqua coach Ryan Callison said. “Smacked us in the mouth, and we just didn’t respond. It’s plain and simple — rough defense, didn’t hit tonight. They played their game, and they played well.”
Tippecanoe advanced to play Hamilton Ross in a D-III district final game on Friday at Bellbrook High School.
“I think it just starts with their mentality. I mean, they were going to refuse to be denied tonight, and we talk a lot about scoring in every inning,” Dickens said. “They carried that forward today, so I’m proud of them up and down the lineup one through nine.”
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