The Waynedale Golden Bears (24-9) offense was on fire from the start, as they rolled past Harrison Central (20-13) 10-1 for their second straight Division III Championship. Scoring at least one run in each of the first five innings, the Golden Bears exploded for 15 hits, led by a 4-5 performance from Dylan Raber. Junior lefty Otto Solorzano went six innings, striking out seven and allowing just the lone run.
Waynedale Scores Early and Often
Photo by Al Kornspan
Leading off the bottom of the first, Raber singled to left and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Tristan Franks. After walks to Connor Gatti and Timmy Short, Trey Barkman got aboard via a fielder’s choice,scoring Raber and giving Waynedale a 1-0 lead. The bottom of the second Golden Bear offense really caught fire.
With one out, Shane Coblentz doubled to left center and Tate Venables drew a walk, followed by another single from Raber to load the bases. Tristan Franks snuck a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Coblentz and Venables, and Connor Gatti doubled to deep left, scoring Raber and Franks to extend the lead to 5-0. After a pitching change, Timmy Short hit his own double to deep left to bring in Gatti. Following a single from Barkman, Jayden Schlabach singled to score Short and make it 7-0 Waynedale after two.
In the third inning Raber kept his momentum rolling with a one-out single to center. Franks followed it up with a single of his own, then Gatti drew a walk to load the bases. Short hit a sacrifice fly to center, deep enough for Franks to score and extend the lead to 8-0. Leading off the fourth, Gavin Spitler tripled down the right field line and would come into score on a Coblentz single two pitches later. This time, Wyatt Pierce was able to get out of the jam and end the Golden Bear threat. After four innings, Waynedale led 9-0.
Huskies Break Drought
Photo by Al Kornspan
Despite trailing by nine runs, Harrison Central was not going down without a fight. Leading off the fifth inning, Anthony Pelegreen beat out an infield single. After a pair of groundouts moved him over to third, Kaden Jurosko got his second hit in the contest to score Pelegreen and put the Huskies on the board. After giving up his first run, Solorzano got Pierce looking to end the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Gatti hit a one-out single down the right field line.
Short would follow that by reaching on a fielder’s choice when an errant throw allowed Gatti to hustle to third. Trey Barkman flew out to right field, but it was deep enough to score Gatti and give the Golden Bears a 10-1 lead.
Back-to-Back Champions
The Golden Bears are back to back Division III Champs! @NEOSportsInside @WaynedaleSports @WaynedaleBSB pic.twitter.com/gEW32ONdPe
— Devin (@devinlowe123) June 11, 2023
Solorzano would retire the side in order in the sixth inning, and Short came in to close things out in the seventh to give Waynedale their second straight Division III Championship. As they did a season ago, the Golden Bears got an outstanding playoff run from Solorzano and Barkman on the mound to go along with clutch hitting to bring another trophy back to Apple Creek.
Top Performers
Harrison Central
Kaden Jurosko: 2-3 2B RBI
Anthony Pelegreen: 1-3 R
Tucker Snyder: 1-3
Reed Arbaugh: 1-2
Waynedale
Otto Solorzano: W 6 IP 6 H 1 BB 7 K 1 ER
Timmy Short: 1-2 2B 2 RBI R BB 1 IP 2 K
Dylan Raber: 4-5 3 R
Connor Gatti: 2-2 2B 2 RBI 2 R 2 BB
Tristan Franks: 2-3 2 RBI R
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | R | H | E | |
| Harrison Central | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Waynedale | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 10 | 15 | 0 |
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