by Canton, OH: In a game that saw only three hits total, Anthony Wayne did just enough to take down Walsh Jesuit 1-0, advancing to the first State Championship game in school history. After leading off the bottom of the seventh with a double, Max Crandell scored on a sacrifice fly by Ben Nieckarz to give the Generals the walk-off victory.
Through the first two innings of the contest, neither team saw a runner reach base, thanks in large part to dominant mound performances by Owen Graf and Shawn Sullivan.
Walsh Jesuit got their first baserunner of the game in the third, thanks to a double by Zachary Swiderski, but Graf got two outs to leave him stranded at third. The Generals had three runners reach base via walk in the bottom of the inning, but Sullivan got a big strikeout to end the threat.
It cannot be said enough how much both starting pitchers dominated. Through six innings of play, only five combined runners had reached base while twelve had struck out. After the Warriors went quietly in the top of the seventh, the Anthony Wayne bats got hot at the perfect time.
Crandell led off the inning with a double to center, and Jett Smith followed that up with a bunt single, giving the Generals runners on the corners with nobody out. Up came Ben Nieckarz, who hit a fly ball to medium deep right field, but in foul territory. Instead of letting the ball drop to prevent the runner from scoring, the right fielder caught the ball and fired towards home plate. The ball reached the plate late, and pinch runner Kaden Rouser slid across the plate for the winning run, sending the Generals to their first-ever State Championship game with a 1-0 victory.
Up Next
Anthony Wayne will look to win their first-ever State Championship Saturday night when it battles the Amherst Steele Comets. Amherst advanced to the title game with a 3-2 win over New Albany in 10 innings. The first pitch is scheduled for 7 pm at Canal Park in Akron.
Top Performers
Walsh Jesuit Warriors
Shawn Sullivan: 6 IP 0 H 3 BB 9 K
Zachary Swiderski: 1-2 2B
Anthony Wayne Generals
Owen Graf: 7 IP 1 H 6 K W
Max Crandell: 1-3 2B
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
R |
H |
|
| Walsh Jesuit |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Anthony Wayne |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
