The Sweet 16 is almost set for the seven divisions in Ohio High School Athletic Association baseball.
Southwest Ohio teams took the diamond in 25 district tournaments, hoping to advance to next week’s regional tournaments. Here are the ones who did.
Division I, Region 4
The regional tournament is June 3-4 at Miami University. A Cincinnati team will advance to the state tournament as league rivalries take center stage in the semis. Elder will play St. Xavier. Oak Hills (22-7) will face Mason (19-10). The four teams enjoyed dominant pitching from some of the city’s best hurlers to win district championships.
St. Xavier (23-5) ousted 2025 state semifinalist Lakota West (15-13), 8-3 in a district final. The Bombers knocked 12 hits and limited the Firebirds to six. Ranked seventh in the final state coaches poll, the Bombers are one of the hottest teams in the city, winning 15 of their last 16.
Lakota West senior Braydon Johnson set the school record for extra-base hits in the semis with a double and triple against Fairmont in a 10-1 win. Noah Bramble had four hits and pitched five innings.
Elder (19-10) upset Beavercreek, 2-0, to win a district title. The Beavers were ranked eighth in the final state coaches poll and finished 21-6. Junior Caleb McComas threw a complete-game shutout, allowing four hits and striking out six. He is now 6-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 53 innings. Three of his wins came in Greater Catholic League-South play. Junior Jack Rosenacker collected three of Elder’s five hits and scored both runs. Senior Carson Smith had an RBI hit.
Mason beat league foe Fairfield, 5-0, in a district final. Senior Ben Hanley, a Kent State commit, threw a four-hit shutout, walking two and striking out 12. He is 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA and has 77 strikeouts in 42 innings. Mason had five hits. Senior Dylan Heimbuch had a single and two RBIs.
In the semis, Ollie Stuart and Asher Visconti combined for a five-inning perfect game in an 11-0 win over Western Hills.
In the other district final, Oak Hills ousted 2025 state runner-up Springboro with a 4-0 shutout win. Ryan Murphy, a junior UC Bearcats commit, threw a three-hitter, walking none and striking out 11. He is 11-0 with a 0.62 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 68 innings. Senior Adam Williamson led the Highlanders’ offense with two hits, as they took advantage of three Springboro errors.
In the semis, Oak Hills rallied to beat Springfield in extra innings, 5-4. Wil Kraus hit two home runs, one in the seventh inning to keep the team’s season alive.
Division I, Region 3
Lakota East lost to Centerville in a district final, 5-2, and finished 19-9 for the season. Centerville (24-4) is No. 1 in the state in the final coaches poll. The Thunderhawks had beat Colerain 1-0 in the semis behind a no-hitter from freshman Maddox Roth. He struck out seven and walked one.
Moeller beat Little Miami, 5-2 in a district final to improve to 22-6. Matt Ponatoski gave up four hits and two runs in 4.1 innings. Reggie Watson led the offense with two hits and three RBIs.
In the semis, Moeller beat Middletown, 12-0. Junior Notre Dame commit Nathan McDowell threw a perfect game for his third no-hitter of the season, striking out 13 of 15 batters. He is 9-0 with a 1.19 ERA and 74 Ks in 47 innings.
The regionals are June 2 and 3 at Wright State. Moeller will face Grove City (18-9) and Centerville will take on Pickerington North.
Division II, Region 8
The regionals are June 3-4 at Day Air Ballpark, the home of the Dayton Dragons. In the semis, Loveland (20-8) will play Harrison (12-10) and Anderson (20-7) will take on Worthington Kilbourne (15-15).
Anderson pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the city this week, knocking off Troy 1-0, in nine innings in the district finals. Troy (22-5) was ranked second in the final state coaches poll.
Senior Brennan Trowbridge and junior Collin Evans combined to allow two hits and strike out 11. The Raptors only got two hits themselves but took advantage of two Troy errors. Hudson Best scored the only run in the ninth.
Anderson also won in nine innings in the semis, beating Fairborn 2-1. Bryce Hammack pitched 4.1 innings, allowing one run, and Grant Fyffe gave up two hits in relief, striking out six. Senior Brayden Moore had two hits and an RBI, and Best had a hit and an RBI.
Harrison (12-10) advanced with two wild extra-inning wins of its own, beating Northmont 14-10 and Edgewood 7-4. Junior Ryan Stigler had three hits and six RBIs in the semis. The Wildcats blew a 7-0 lead in the seventh, but rebounded in the eighth to score seven runs.
In the finals, Harrison rallied from a 4-1 deficit against one of the city’s leading pitchers, senior Carson Downie. They shut out the Cougars for the final nine innings and scored three runs in the 10th inning to advance
Loveland (20-8), ranked eighth in the state, rolled through its bracket, beating Miamisburg 13-0 and league foe Kings 6-0 in the final. Senior Drew Oerther pitched a two-hit shutout against Kings, striking out 13. Senior Brady Stidham had three hits, including the 100th of his career.
Division III, Region 12
The regional tournament is June 2 and 4 at Miami University. Badin (25-3) will face Tipp City Tippecanoe (23-5) in one semifinal. Kenton Ridge (20-5) and Vandalia Butler (24-5) play in the other one. They represent four of the top six teams in the state coaches poll.
Badin defeated league foe Chaminade-Julienne for the third time in as many tries, taking the district final, 12-1. Senior Caleb Driessen struck out eight batters in six innings. Chandler Taylor hit a three-run triple to give the Rams an early 4-1 lead, and they never looked back. Badin, No. 1 in the state poll, has been to the Final Four the past two years. Badin went straight from the game to the school’s graduation ceremony.
Batavia finished 23-9 after losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to Tippecanoe, which is third in the state. Jack Stowell and Nakoa Carson drove in runs for the Bulldogs. They had a runner thrown out at the plate trailing 3-2 in the sixth. Batavia was looking for its first district crown since 1998.
La Salle (16-12) lost 8-1 to Vandalia Butler (24-5), which is ranked fifth in the state coaches poll. La Salle gave up 15 hits and trailed 5-0 after two innings. Mason Woods led Butler with four hits and two RBIs. Koby Dues had three hits at the plate and pitched four shutout innings to get the win. Kenton Ridge, sixth, beat Bellbrook 8-0 in the finals.
Division IV, Region 16
The Region 16 tournament is June 2 and 4 at Day Air Ballpark, the home of the Dayton Dragons.
Fenwick (20-8) rallied to win a district title, scoring all of its runs in the seventh to beat 10th-ranked Urbana (23-7), 5-2. Jackson Kauffman hit a two-run double in the seventh. Jude McCullough, Boyd Westerfield and Isaac Barker also had RBI base hits.
Sophomore standout Carter Shouse pitched a two-hitter, striking out 16, a school record. He is 5-3 with a 1.13 ERA and 88 Ks in 43 innings, more than two per frame. Fenwick plays Newark Licking Valley (23-4), the reigning DIII state champs and ranked eighth in the state DIV poll, in the semis.
Indian Hill (21-5) lost 8-2 to Tipp City Bethel to end its season.
Indian Hill survived one of the wildest games of the week in the semifinal round, edging Taylor 2-1. Indian Hill was no-hit by Taylor junior Charlie Kantz, who gave up walks and struck out five. Taylor committed an error in the first inning, helping Indian Hill score twice. Senior Jimmy Liebel pitched five shutout innings and had the team’s lone RBI on a sacrifice fly, scoring Devlan Daniel.
Bethel will play Roger Bacon (19-8) or Benjamin Logan (17-7) in the other semi after they play a district final Saturday, May 30. The Spartans reversed an 0-3 record against league foe CHCA in the district semifinals, beating the Eagles 11-0. Kyle Miller shut down the Eagles, allowing three hits and striking out four. He is 7-1 with a 0.89 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 55 innings. Bacon is one win away from tying the school record of 20 wins after winning 14 of its last 16.
Division V, Region 20
The DV regional is June 2-3 at Mason High School. Summit Country Day (24-6) will face Versailles (20-9) in one semifinal.
Summit knocked off Anna (22-6) 3-1 in the district finals. Senior Grayson Houchin led the way. He pitched a complete-game four-hitter, allowing one unearned run and striking out six. He led the offense as well with two hits and two RBIs. He is 7-1 with a 0.88 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 47 innings, and batting .483 with 34 runs scored and 29 RBIs, both second on the team.
Summit edged Williamsburg 3-1 in the semis. Senior Jack Phillabaum pitched a two-hitter, allowing one run, which was also unearned. Houchin had a single and an RBI, and Dillon Minton posted two hits and an RBI, while junior Cole Reinhard had a single and an RBI. Phillabaum is 4-2 with a 1.36 ERA, and also bats .352 with 29 runs scored and 15 RBIs.
Mariemont (15-11) fell 9-3 to top seed Arcanum (23-4) in a district final. Arcanum advances to next week’s regional semis against Gahanna Columbus Academy.
Division VI, Region 24
Miami Valley Christian Academy (17-8) defeated Troy Christian, 7-3, to win a district championship. The Lions will face Fort Recovery (16-10), which edged Cincinnati Country Day in another district final. That game will be 2 p.m. June 2 at Pleasant Hill Newton. Dayton Christian and Galion Northmor are in the other semifinal.
CCD (8-18) rallied to score two in the seventh to force extra innings for the second straight game in the tournament. The Nighthawks had scored seven in the eighth to beat St. Bernard in the semifinals.
Division VII, Region 28
Fayetteville-Perry (7-16) lost 9-0 to Pleasant Hill Newton (22-4), which is ranked sixth in the final state coaches poll. Newton advances to play Russia in next week’s regionals.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How these Southwest Ohio baseball teams advanced to regionals
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
