Monday, May 20, 2024

District Baseball Preview

The 2024 SCAL champions after last Thursday's win at Botkins

OHSAA district baseball tournaments begin on Monday with the higher seeded teams hosting their opponent in the semifinals. For Southwest Division IV fans, 12 teams are battling for three spots to the southwest regional tournament next Thursday at Princeton High School in Cincinnati. Joining them at the regional will be one winner from four teams playing in the central district. Below is the entire brackets for all 16 teams courtesy of MaxPreps. We'll preview the top half of the bracket to start the week.



Northmor vs Mechanicsburg (Central District)
Top seeded Northmor (21-5) is located in Galion, about a hour north of Columbus. The Golden Knights are also state-ranked #3 in today's latest coaches poll. Northmor advanced to the district tournament by winning their sectional final over #12-seed Madison Christian 1-0. Pitcher Drew Hammond led his team with six innings pitched, allowing just one hit, four walks and struck out 10 batters. He also doubled and scored the game's only run in the bottom of the 6th inning off a Jack Bowdre RBI single. Relief pitcher Trevor Brubaker got the save after striking out the side in the 7th inning.

Mechanicsburg (19-5) is a #4-seed and state-ranked #11. Their school is located 30 minutes west of Columbus and will make the long drive to Morrow County for today's semifinal. The Indians topped #14-seed Ridgedale last Tuesday 12-0 in five innings. The eighth batter in the order, Connor Shultz, had three of his team's eight hits. Pitcher Lane Poland got the complete game victory allowing one hit, four walks and struck out five batters. Poland also knocked in his team's first run and finished with two RBI.

Fairfield Christian vs Elgin (Central District)
Fairfield (20-7), located in Lancaster, is the #2-seed and state-ranked #17. The Knights topped #10-seed Shekinah Christian 2-0. Both runs in that sectional championship last Thursday came in the bottom of the 6th inning when sophomore Brayden Stem drilled a two-run double to centerfield. Sophomore pitcher A.J. Holbrook went all seven innings and allowed only three hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. Fairfield was ousted in last year's district semifinals by Northmor and finished with a 20-5 record.

Elgin (15-8) is the #5-seed from Marion and will have a 90 minute bus ride to legendary Beavers Field in Lancaster. The Comets knocked off #3-seed Berne Union last Thurday 5-2. Elgin got the scoring started in the second inning when Trey Morgan hit a bases loaded double to score three runs. Teammate Nash Lust had three of his team's nine hits and Brody Wood had two hits including a RBI triple. Starting pitcher Stephen Castillo-Carey went 6-2/3 allowing two runs on ten hits and four walks with two strikeouts. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Berne Union scored their final run and loaded the bases with two outs. The Comets responded by sending Wood to the mound and he struck out the final batter for the save.

Felicity-Franklin vs Fayetteville-Perry (Southwest District)
#3-seed Felicity-Franklin (6-12) is located east of Cincinnati and will make a 30 minute trip north to play #2-seed Fayetteville-Perry (8-17). Felicity-Franklin upset #1-seed St. Bernard last Wednesday 8-6. There was all kinds of excitement for the Cardinals, including a steal of home by Jona Carnahan and a triple play 6-4-3-2 in the 6th inning. St. Bernard had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th when relieve pitcher Lane McElfresh struck out the final batter. Starting pitcher Grady Jowers went six innings and gave up just two earned runs on three hits and four walks with five stikeouts. Felicity-Franklin used six hits, five walks and four hit batters in the victory. 

Fayetteville-Perry run ruled #5-seed Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington 11-0 in five innings. Senior Clay Holden led the Rockets with two hits, including a double and three RBI. Junior Caleb Fehring also had two hits and recorded two of his team's six stolen bases. Junior pitcher A.J. Roy and Braedyn Crone combined on the pitcher's mound for three hits, six walks and 10 strikeouts.

Russia vs Twin Valley South (Southwest District)
#1-seed Russia (23-4) hosts #23-seed Twin Valley South (5-12). The Raiders are state-ranked #4 and run ruled #24-seed Triad last Wednesday 10-0 in five innings. Russia also played the following day in their final regular season game and wrapped up the Shelby County Athletic League with a perfect 12-0 record. When the Miami Valley Baseball Coaches Association All-Area Awards came out over the weekend, junior Braylon Cordonnier was named Player of the Year. Cordonnier was joined on the list by senior teammates Felix Francis, Jude Counts, Hayden Quinter and Brayden Monnin, along with Co-Coach of the Year, Kevin Phlipot.

Twin Valley South is hot when it counts, winning four of their last five games. The Panthers most recently thumped #16-seed Fairlawn 14-1 in five innings last Wednesday. Freshman clean-up batter Dustin Miller was the spark plug going 3-for-3 with a double, four RBI, and two stolen bases. Miller also pitched a complete game scattering six hits and five walks with four strikeouts. Senior Cais Kingsley had a couple hits and two stolen bases as well. The Panther's team stole a whopping nine bases in the game.

In 2023, #2-seed Russia survived an upset from #3 Newton in the District Semis

No comments:

Post a Comment