XENIA — A.J. Johnson missed coach Rob Smith’s bunt signal in the bottom of the seventh.
On the next pitch he more than made up for it.
Johnson blasted a walk-off shot into the left-center field gap, scoring Zac Gillespie and giving Fairborn a 4-3 victory over Piqua in the first round of the Division I sectional baseball tournament at AIA’s Grady’s Field on Thursday night.
“I just kind of go out there and play and try to do the little things. I missed the sign, but I made up for it I think,” said Johnson, who also had a double and two singles for Fairborn.
The Hawks (14-14) took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning, but Piqua took advantage of an early error and RBIs from Andy Draving and Trenton Hemm to tie the game at 3.
Fairborn responded with a bloop double from Gillespie to start the bottom of the seventh, and junior Johnson worked to a full count before drilling a liner into left field that Piqua’s outfielders gave up on after seeing it would find the gap.
“A.J.’s a three-year starter and he’s basically got senior experience,” said Fairborn head coach Rob Smith. “I told him not to bunt unless it was a strike, and he made a mistake there on that 3-1 pitch, but he came through, and I’m proud of him. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached, and he came up with a big hit.”
Fairborn, which combined for seven hits on the night, doesn’t have much time to celebrate the victory. The Skyhawks will take to the road to face Northmont tonight at 5 p.m.
Fairborn’s James Jessee started on the mound and went six innings. He struck out four and gave up just three hits and walked four before he was replaced by Brad Hall in the seventh inning.
Jessee helped himself at the plate in the bottom of the first with an RBI single off Piqua starter Aaron Christy that scored Gillespie to make it 1-0.
Piqua tied it up in the fifth inning after Tyler Davis scored on a wild pitch, but Fairborn reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth after Mark Swope hit an RBI groundball to score Brad Hall. An overthrow allowed Alex Johnson to score on the play.
A.J. Johnson also had a pair of key defensive plays at the catcher position. He saved a possible run in the fourth by throwing out Piqua’s Draving as he attempted to steal second base, and he helped save another run in the fifth when he threw Brandon Wright out after Wright was caught in a rundown between third base and home.
