LANCASTER - For the second year in a row, the Eastern Eagles baseball team saw a successful season end with a loss to the Berlin Hiland Hawks at the Division IV regional semifinals, losing 12-2 at Beavers Field on Thursday.

The district-champion Eagles conclude their 2008 season with a record of 14-12. Hiland improves to 24-3.

Derek Griffin led the Eagles offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The junior also had one of two runs scored with senior Kyle Gordon.

Sophomore Titus Pierce and Gordon pitched for Eastern. Pierce struck out six batters and walked four. Gordon, who came on in relief in the fifth, struck out four and walked one.

Sophomore Andrew Benedum had the Eagles' other hit and also had an RBI.

“I thought Titus did an outstanding job on the mound,” said Eastern head coach Brian Bowen. “He pitched the game that we needed out of him for us to be successful, and we just made too many mistakes on routine balls to expect to be able to win.”

A season after getting no hits in a 4-0 loss to the Hawks at regionals, the Eagles flew right along side Hiland through three innings Thursday, keeping the high-powered opposition in check with one run and three hits. But a few too many defensive lapses in the fourth and fifth derailed their chances at victory, and the Hawks went on to a 10-run win.

“Hiland hits the ball extremely well. They're probably the best hitting team we've seen in quite a while. We knew that going into it,” said Bowen. “Against a team like this, you can't afford to make mistakes defensively. You almost have to play a perfect game.”

Though it wasn't perfect, it was more than sufficient in the early going, and Eastern quickly erased any memories of last season's no-hitter with Griffin's one-out, RBI double in the bottom of the first, which tied the game 1-1. Hiland had already opened the scoring with a one-out single and an RBI triple in the top of the inning.

The teams flexed their defensive muscle in the second and third, retiring one another with relative ease and combining for just one hit.

Then came the fourth inning when the Eagles first began to stumble.

An on-time throw to second on a steal didn't result in an out because of a missed tag, and a routine pop fly in the infield turned into a single after some miscommunication between Eagle players. The costly result was the go-ahead and eventual game-winning runs crossing the plate for Hiland.

In the fifth, the Hawks' offense saw its highest output, scoring five more runs on four hits and an error.

“I thought (coming in) we'd be able to compete with them like we did there through the early innings,” stated Bowen. “But we knew we had to make the routine outs (to) compete, and we weren't able to do that. Against an offensive team like that, they'll catch up to you before too long.”

Eastern had no hits after the fourth inning, and Hiland got three doubles and four hits for four runs in the seventh, punching their ticket for Friday's regional final against Newark Catholic (22-6).

“I thought it was a good season. I'm very proud of what our kids were able to accomplish,” said Bowen. “Being a young team and dealing with some injuries, there was adversity throughout the year, and instead of making excuses they got after it and went back to work harder after each loss. Hard work's paid off for them, and they played good ball here towards the end of the season.”

Three Eagle seniors played their final baseball game for Eastern High School Thursday, and Gordon, Dan Buckley, and Tyler Kearns all received praise from their head coach for their contributions to the team.

“Our seniors do a great job. I enjoyed coaching all three of them,” he said. “They show up everyday, they work hard. Exactly the type of kids that you want to have. With kids like that, it makes it easy to be successful.”

“Successful” is how you'd describe the Eagles under Bowen, who picked up his 100th career win and third district title in a row this season.

Eastern has now made the regional tournament four times in seven years. While they still don't have a regional victory, there's no reason why the Eagles shouldn't get another shot in 2009 because they'll return most of this year's team. Bowen emphasized the importance of his players staying active and involved in baseball through the summer and fall, which will improve their chances even more.

“Next season we have a lot of high expectations,” said Bowen. “We're going to challenge the kids more through our scheduling, and they know that, and they're all going to have to get better.

“I think with having such a young team, there's going to be a lot of competition ‘cause there's a lot of guys coming back, and there's a lot of guys who were very close to earning some playing time (this season). There's going to be a lot of competition for many spots next year.”

Berlin Hiland 12, Eastern 2

BH 100 250 4 - 12 15 1

E 100 100 0 - 2 3 2

WP - Wengerd; LP - Pierce.