By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Here are the scores and stats from the high school baseball games from May 16 – 22.

Arcanum:

WEST LIBERTY — The fifth seed Trojans started the week with a 6-2 road upset win at three seed West Liberty-Salem on May 20 in the OHSAA Division III Baseball Southwest District Semifinals.

The game went into extra innings tied 2-2. The Tigers were a misplayed fly ball away from winning on a walk off. With a runner on third, West Liberty-Salem hit a ball into left-center field. Sophomore Derek Longstreth almost lost track of the ball as the wind picked up the ball.

But at the last second, Longstreth dove to his right and made the diving catch to send the game into extras. Head coach Randy Baker said Longstreth stayed within himself and made the play.

“When it went in the air, I started to walk out. All of a sudden I seen Derek starting to flop around a little bit. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Then he comes up with a huge catch,” Baker said.

Arcanun led 2-0 after the top of the fifth inning. Senior Dakota Kendig drove in a run on a RBI single in the second inning with two outs. Sophomore Regan Christ drove in a run in the top of the fifth inning, also with two outs.

Baker said the team had some good plate appearances, but they left a couple runs stranded early in the game. Something they can’t do against a talented pitcher and team.

The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. They got a RBI single and scored on an error, all with two outs.

The Trojans continued to play solid defense behind their pitchers and kept the game tied. Along with Longstreth’s catch, Kendig made a diving play to take away a hit. Sophomore Ethan Kearney leaped into the fence in foul territory to get an out.

In extras, Arcanum had bases loaded with one out. Sophomore Kolton Quigney came through with a two-run single to go up 4-2. Kendig drove in two more runs and Arcanum led 6-2.

The Tigers led off the eighth inning with a walk. After freshman Lucas Miller got a strikeout, the next batter put one on the ground.

Quigney collected the ball, flipped it to junior Seth Fearon for one out. Fearon sent a laser down to Christ at first base to complete the game-ending double play.

Christ started the game on the mound and went 4.2 innings allowing two hits and struck out seven batters. Baker said Christ has had some back issues lately that flared up in this game. Christ refused to leave the game and fought through it.

Kearney and Miller combined for 3.1 innings and allowed one hit with two strikeouts.

Baker said the team kept fighting and fighting, even when things weren’t going their way. The three pitchers represent the fight this team has.

“Having three pitchers come in, two of them sophomores and one of them a freshman, just showed the character of these guys. These guys work extremely hard. Very well deserving win. We have a lot faith in those guys to come in and do their job and they did,” Baker said.

Arcanum couldn’t carry that momentum with them in the OHSAA Division III Baseball Southwest District Finals as they lost 5-3 to one seed Cincinnati Christian on May 22 at Dixie High School.

The Cougars had a 5-0 lead after the top of the fourth inning and kept that lead the rest of the way.

Miller had two RBI and senior Caleb Burke had a RBI. Freshman Bishop Cartwright had two strikeouts and allowed no hits in two innings of work.

Arcanum finishes their season with a 17-10 record and an 8-2 WOAC record. They will graduate seniors Caleb Burke, Dakota Kendig and Jacob Flayler.

A full game recap against West Liberty-Salem can be found on our website, dailyadvocate.com.

Bradford:

The four seed Railroaders started the week with a 10-5 win at home over sixth seed Cedarville on May 20. Seniors Hudson Hill, Trey Schmelzer, Garrett Trevino and Landon Wills all had two RBI. Senior Tucker Miller had seven strikeouts in five innings of work. Wills came in and threw two innings and struck out four.

In the OHSAA Division IV Baseball Southwest District Finals, they won 7-5 over three seed Newton at Houston on May 22. Bradford scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead. Wills had five RBI in the game with three hits. Schmelzer drove in a pair of runs. On the mound, Wills went six innings and struck out nine. Junior Owen Canan only allowed one hit in his lone inning and got the save.

Bradford will take on 11th seed Troy Christian on May 30 at Princeton High School in the OHSAA Division IV Baseball Southwest Regional Semifinals. The game is currently scheduled for 2 p.m. On April 22, Bradford won at Troy Christian, 15-4.

Greenville:

On May 16, the 12th seed Green Wave fell to fifth seed Oakwood 8-3 in the OHSAA Division II Baseball Southwest Sectional. Senior Trevor Mardin drove in a run for Greenville. Junior Adam Edwards pitched an inning and had three strikeouts. The Green Wave finish the season with an 11-17 record and a 6-12 MVL record. They graduate seniors Quentin Garner, Trevor Mardin and Bryce Blumenstock.

Versailles:

Versailles started the week with an 8-0 win over seventh seed Anna in the OHSAA Division III Baseball Southwest District Semifinals on May 20. Junior Ross Francis had three RBI in the game. Senior AJ Griesdorn drove in a pair of runs and senior Lane Bergman drove in a run as well. Junior Chase Monnin pitched all seven innings and had four strikeouts while allowing two hits.

The one seed Tigers then fell 3-0 to fifth seed Cincinnati Country Day in the OHSAA Division III Baseball Southwest District Final at Hamilton on May 22. The team had three hits in the game. Griesdorn pitched all six innings and only allowed three hits himself while racking up 10 strikeouts. Versailles finishes the season with a 25-5 record, a 9-1 MAC record and are MAC champions. They will graduate seniors Joel Gehret, AJ Griesdorn, Lane Bergman, Travis George, Michael Osborne, Gabe White and Levi Barga.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].