OXFORD, Ohio ‒ Moments after resuming action following a two-hour weather delay, Springboro’s baseball team did not dawdle, scoring four quick runs to earn its second trip to the state tournament in program history.
Springboro (23-8) knocked off 2024 state champion Mason (22-8) 8-6 Thursday night to win the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I, Region 4 baseball championship. The Panthers advance to the Division I state semifinals June 14 in Canton, playing the regional champion between Perrysburg and Medina, whose game was postponed to Friday night.
It is the Panthers’ first regional championship since 2019, when they lost in the semis.
“It’s obviously super exciting going into unseen territory for this team, and it’s just super exciting being able to experience this with the senior class and all my friends,” Springboro senior Colten Muhlenkamp said. “It’s just a great feeling being able to come out here and do it for our city, for all of our classmates doing it for each other, doing it for our coaching staff. It is such a great feeling wearing these blue colors.”
Head coach Mark Pelfrey, who has been at the helm for 32 seasons, is treasuring another chance to watch his kids perform in the state tourney.
“I’m just so thrilled that this group gets to experience it,” Pelfrey said. “They are so deserving with everything they do, how they approach the game, and I am so excited for them. They enjoy each other. They play for each other. They just want to stay together for another week.”
Pelfrey’s Panthers built an 8-2 lead and survived a furious four-run rally by the Comets in the bottom of the seventh.
The game was tied 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning when lightning and heavy rain came through the area, with the game finishing at 11:15 p.m., more than five hours after the first pitch.
Springboro junior Ben Veletean, a Louisville commit, was at the plate with the bases loaded and one out when play stopped.
Veletean hit a sacrifice fly to give Boro a 3-2 lead. Senior Jacob Cane, who had two triples in Wednesday’s semifinal win, lined his third of the week down the right-field line to plate two and give the Panthers a 5-2 lead. Nick Hutchinson drove him in with a single to right.
Veletean had the most to think about during the rain delay, knowing he needed to be ready to swing the bat right away in a big situation.
“I was confident in myself the whole time,’ he said. “I was getting prepared mentally when we were in the clubhouse and I just came out and attacked. It’s amazing. I’m blessed for the opportunity.”
Mason sent sophomore Jaden Bakhit to the mound to start. The righthander had thrown 14 innings in five appearances, the most recent against Wayne last week in the district tournament.
The youngster showed a lot of talent, hitting more than 90 miles per hour on the radar gun.
He and the Comets caught a break in the first inning. After a walk and an out, Hutchinson lined a pitch down the left-field line to score a run. The ball was clearly fair, and the home-plate umpire signaled it fair, but the third-base umpire threw up his hands to call it foul, immediately blowing the play dead.
Hutchinson went back to the plate and hit a single to right field, but Bakhit got out of the inning without a run scoring.
The Comets scored in the first on singles by J.J. Darst and Liam Sander, a walk to Isaac Vargo and sacrifice fly by Grant O’Connor.
Springboro tied it 1-1 in the third. They loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Vince Fortkamp and Veletean around a Mason error. Hutchinson hit a grounder to Sam Davies at third. Davies threw to second for one out, but Hutchinson beat the relay to first to avoid an inning-ending double play and drive in a run.
Mason scored its second run in the bottom of the third. Davies and senior Cade Landheer started the inning with singles Chase Cox drove in a run with sacrifice fly. With a runner at second, Springboro right fielder Adam Smith caught a fly ball and threw out the runner at third to end the inning.
In the top of the fourth, Mason made three key defensive miscues that weren’t judged as errors to set up Boro’s big inning.
Smith started off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Colten Muhlenkamp reached on a grounder to shortstop, as he opted to get Smith out at third but Smith beat the throw.
Bakhit struck out Drew Davis, then senior Fortkamp, Boro’s leading hitter (.429), bunted down the first-base line and reached first when no one covered the bag. That tied the game at 2-2.
Micah Brandon singled to load the bases, and then the lightning delay came into play. Junior Aidan Henger took the mound for Mason in relief after the delay.
The Panthers stayed loose by watching a professional cornhole tournament on ESPN, rooting for one of the competitors.
“We were just trying to build energy in there,” Muhlenkamp said. “Just trying to stay hot, keep the energy up and just overall carry out the good vibes from being in there to coming out here and doing what we do.”
Starter Dylan Brabston (7-1, 2.91 ERA) stayed on the mound for Boro after the delay. He put the first two batters on with a walk and hit batter and was replaced with junior Jacob Rhinehart (6-2, 1.78).
The first batter Rhinehart faced, Isaac Vargo, launched a long fly close to the fence in left field for an out, just a few feet away from a three-run home run. Rhinehart got a pop-up, then faced Drew Johnson with runners on second and third.
Rhinehart came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Johnson on a curveball.
“I’m ready to get the job done and win the state championship with my best friends,” Rhinehart said. “We just have really good team chemistry. We work hard every day and we come to the field wanting to play every day.”
In the top of the fifth, the Panthers got a leadoff double from Smith and an RBI single by Muhlenkamp. Ollie Stuart struck out Cane with the bases loaded to keep it at one run in the inning, but Boro led 7-2.
Rhinehart retired the Comets’ top three batters in the order in the fifth, striking out two of them.
Muhlenkamp picked up a two-out RBI single in the sixth, his second run-scoring hit in as many at-bats, to give Boro an 8-2 lead.
Mason scored two in the seventh off Rhinehart on three walks by Rhinehart, an RBI single by Chase Cox and an error.
Rhinehart was replaced by Blake Patterson, who had thrown only six innings all season.
Trailing 8-4, Hutch Crociata came to the plate for Mason. He walked with a run scoring on a wild pitch.
Liam Sander grounded out to second base, scoring a run to make it 8-6. Isaac Vargo walked, bringing Grant O’Connor to the plate with the potential walkoff run.
O’Connor flied out to left for the final out.
Springboro rapped out 15 hits, with seven of their starters collecting two hits apiece. Cane, Hutchinson and Muhlenkamp finished with two RBIs.
“It was just really good coming out here swinging the bat, doing what we do,” Muhlenkamp said. “Our offense has been just consistent all year long. We had high-quality at-bats, coming out and putting good swings on the ball.”
J.J. Darst had two of the Comets’ five hits and Cox posted two RBIs.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Springboro rolls past reigning state champion Mason for Division I regional baseball title
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
