Grove City, Liberty win districts; Whetstone tops City
Thursday, May 25, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Grove City’s Braxton Bryant scores the eventual winning run in the top of the eighth inning during the Greyhounds’ 4-3 victory over Watterson in a Division I district final May 25 at Upper Arlington. Photo: John Hulkenberg
That the Watterson and Grove City baseball teams were seeded second and third, respectively, heading into their Division I district championship game May 25 at Upper Arlington dictated that a dandy could be in the making.
A full-house crowd that included hundreds of standing people were left captivated by an eight-inning back-and-forth battle that more than lived up to expectations.
Grove City struck last and landed a second consecutive district title with a 4-3 victory that sends it into a regional semifinal June 1 at home against Hilliard Darby.
“That’s our fifth district title,” coach Ryan Alexander said. “We thought we’d win 30 of these but then it got hard for a couple years. It’s just a great group of kids that bring great energy, and it’s a great senior class.”
Keegan Holmstrom tossed a complete game for the Greyhounds, who improved to 20-10 while the Eagles finished 23-3.
“I knew I had 15 pitches to work with (heading into the last batter),” said Holmstrom, who struck out the last two batters to give him 11 for the game. “I felt good today. There’s just excitement, joy and love for our guys. We knew we had this. It’s another week of practice, so we’ll bring the juice.”
Watterson tied it in the bottom of the seventh when A.J. McAninch singled and scored on a double to deep left by Brandon Trout.
Grove City’s Keegan Holmstrom delivers a pitch during the Greyhounds’ 4-3 win over Watterson in a Division I district final May 25 at Upper Arlington. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Grove City had an answer in the eighth, however, as Braxton Bryant was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Logan Highley in the top of the eighth.
“I went up there and wanted to first-pitch attack,” Highley said. “I got a first-pitch fastball and flipped it foul. I was expecting off-speed after that and I just stayed through it and got it through the middle and it worked.”
Watterson was back in a district final for the first time since 2019.
“It was a heck of a high school baseball game, with a lot of emotions, a lot of good talent on the field,” Eagles coach Jeff Boulware said. “We could have given up in the seventh and Brandon comes up with a huge two-out double to tie it up. I can’t say enough about our kids. I’m very proud of them.”
In the other area Division I district final, top-seeded Olentangy Liberty defeated 22nd-seeded DeSales 8-2 at Olentangy Orange.
The Patriots, who improved to 28-3, will play Orange at 2 p.m. June 1 in a regional semifinal.
In the win over the Stallions, Conner Mick and Blake Hajjar both had RBI-singles in the first inning and Mason Onate and Mick both drove in two runs in the second.
DeSales finished with a 14-12 record.
Grove City’s Braydon Clark (#42) celebrates following the Greyhounds’ 4-3 win over Watterson in a Division I district final May 25. Photo: John Hulkenberg
DIVISION II
Lakewood 4, Licking Valley
In a Division II district final at Beavers Field in Lancaster, 10th-seeded Lakewood scored the game-winning run in the seventh when Evan Lichtenauer opened with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, to third on a walk and scored on a groundout.
Cayden MacDonald went 3-for-4 and William Marrero and Kollin Hall both had two hits for the Lancers in support of Mason Sprankle, who gave up one earned run and struck out four while throwing a complete-game.
Tony Clark had two hits for the Panthers, who finished 18-9.
The Lancers improved to 12-15 and will play Hamilton Badin on June 1 in a regional semifinal at Mason.
CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
Whetstone 13, Independence 0
Christian Douglass tossed a no-hitter to lead the Braves to their 12th consecutive City League championship.
Whetstone scored eight times in the second inning and four in the third of what became a five-inning victory as it finished 21-7 overall.
The Braves committed two errors for the 76ers’ only base runners.
“I was just throwing fastballs (and) curveballs, just trying to throw strikes down the middle to attack the hitters and make them hit it,” Douglass said. “It’s just great to add to the (league title) streak and continue the legacy Whetstone has within the City League. It’s always a fun time to win the City championship.”
Catcher Marshall Cotter hit both a triple and a double in the second inning on his way to finishing 2-for-2 with two RBI.
Justin Liesinger finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Braves finished with 13 hits and benefited from five Independence errors.
It marks the 17th City title in 30 seasons under coach Tim Broskie.
“This was win 21 (this season), which is nice because we ended up getting six or seven non-City wins,” Broskie said. “We’ve had some big wins and our pitching has been good. We had eight seniors, so we’re losing some people.”