GRANVILLE ― Different year, different division, different lefthander. But defending Division III state champion Licking Valley followed a tried and true formula to claim another district baseball title.
This time, it wasn’t the graduated Evan Lichtenauer. Instead, unheralded senior Grayson Snow provided the stellar pitching and the Panthers’ returning nucleus supplied the defense and “small ball” as second-seeded Valley (23-4) blanked third seed Buckeye Valley 3-0 in Division IV before a big crowd at Denison University on May 29.
“It’s been a lot of learning and watching what Evan and (co-ace) Evan Roberts did, while on the field and off the field,” said Snow, who pitched a three-hitter, struck out four and walked two in just his second complete game. “I worked in the off season with (pitching coach) Trevor Mye, and we tweaked and fine tuned everything.”
Observed senior left fielder Evan Lohr: “His sophomore year, he pitched a lot of JV ball, and last year, he was probably our number three. We said last year, that this would be his year.”
Snow was able to pitch around a first-inning error, received a first-inning run and strong defense the rest of the way, as the Panthers advanced to face Bishop Fenwick at 2 p.m. June 2 at Day Air Ballpark in Dayton, home of the Reds’ Class A Dayton Dragons. He faced only one major threat.
With Valley up 3-0 in the fifth, Gavin Smith walked and Joe Haunhorst and Blair Ormeroid had back-to-back singles, loading the bases with none out. But Zaine Furr bounced back to Snow, who threw to catcher Brandt Lichtenauer for one out and he fired to first for a pivotal double play. With runners still at second and third, Clayton McCann lined to Lohr in left, and he snagged it for the third out.
“That leadoff walk. That’s gotten me in trouble all year,” Snow said. “I was trying to get a strikeout (with the bases loaded) and got him to hit it to me, then Brandt made a great play. I knew our defense would stop anything and we had a lot of great plays in the outfield. I pitched confident because of our defense and it allowed me to pitch more comfortably.”
Shortstop Brody Rodgers and second baseman Zane Hancock turned a double play in the fourth.
Snow induced 13 fly ball or popup outs. Right fielder Brady Croak ran down a deep drive by No. 2 hitter Cam Keplinger in the first inning.
Lohr played right field in last year’s state title run but seamlessly shifted over to left. He has lost 25 pounds as he prepares to report to the Army National Guard in a month.
“When I was younger, I was a fill in player and was not sure what I was going to play, but I would catch or play infield, whatever it took to help this team,” Lohr said. “I’ve played all over the outfield, and our coaches put us in the right spot to make the right play because of their scouting.”
The Panthers gave Snow a little breathing room right out of the gate. Rodgers led off with a double, went to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on Adam West’s sacrifice fly for a quick 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, Silas Kyle drew a leadoff walk and Ethan Wolfe bunted him to second. Trey McLaughlin singled to right, then Lohr put down a squeeze bunt to make it 2-0. Rodgers’ two-out infield hit to short scored pinch runner Ian Bebout and it became 3-0.
“Everything thinks it’s easy to get a bunt down, but it’s not,” said Lohr, who also stole a base. “The first attempt, the coach got on me for running in the box, but I got a second chance and stayed back.”
It was the first time the hard-hitting Barons (20-6) had been shut out this season.
“From their all-district stats, they had several guys who were at or north of .350,” coach Adam Arcuri said. “In big situations, you have to make that play, and we had to extend the lead. We talk all the time, about how one is not enough.”
Arcuri couldn’t say enough about how Snow has put himself in this position, waiting his turn during his final season. He threw an efficient 81 pitches, 50 for strikes.
“His freshman year, we were not sure what we were going to do with him,” he said. “By the end of last year, he was our number three, and you knew he was going to give you everything he had. Following those two guys, he worked for the last four years and got himself ready for this moment. He deserved it.”
Now, the Panthers move on to a different venue and different competition.
“They (Bishop Fenwick) have a sophomore lefthander who throws upper 80s-low 90s. He’s the fifth-ranked prospect in the class of 2028,” Arcuri said. “Not sure if we’ll face him, but at the end of the day, it’s baseball. We faced some guys like that last year.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Valley baseball brings Snow to Denison in repeat district championship
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
