CANTON, Ohio – With timely hitting and a pitching gem from senior Colten Muhlenkamp, the Springboro baseball team will get a big opportunity on a big stage.
Springboro defeated Perrysburg 5-1 Saturday night in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state baseball semifinals at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.
Springboro (25-7) will face Lewis Center Olentangy (23-7) in the state championship game 4 p.m. Sunday at Akron’s Canal Park. The Panthers will be looking for their first state championship. Perrysburg finished 23-9.
“It feels awesome,” Springboro senior Jacob Cane said. “What a group of guys this is. They’ve impressed me throughout the season. We’ve worked so hard. We care about each other so much.”
Cane collected three of the team’s nine hits. Senior Vince Fortkamp notched two hits and drove in two runs. Adam Smith had a hit and scored two runs.
The Springboro offense has been hard to stop the entire tournament, coming off a 15-hit performance against 2024 state champion Mason in the regional final.
“We know we’re a hitting team,” Cane said. “That’s where our strong suit’s going to be, and we know as long as we’re in this tournament, we’re going to have to hit the baseball.”
Muhlenkamp did the rest. The senior righthander no-hit the Fighting Yellowjackets until the fourth inning. He allowed two hits, two walks and struck out five, throwing 108 pitches.
“That’s my best friend right there,” Cane said. “I’m so happy for him. We sit next to each other on the bus. I couldn’t be happier for that kid. He is a workhorse. I’m so proud of him.”
Muhlenkamp improved to 9-1 and lowered his 2.88 ERA coming in.
“He was throwing strikes,” Springboro head coach Mark Pelfrey said. “He’s tough to hit when he throws strikes. He was able to get his breaking ball over consistently, which was big for him. He’s a competitor and he has confidence in what he can do.”
Perrysburg’s biggest threat came in the top of the fifth inning and Boro leading 2-1.
Perrysburg loaded the bases with one out on a single, error and a hit batter. Ryan Rettig, the No. 2 batter in the order, hit a line drive right at first baseman Drew Davis, who doubled up the runner to end the inning.
“Coach has told us all season that runs like this come down to a few pitches,” Muhlenkamp said. “I knew deep down in my head that those pitches were those few pitches, so we knew we had to lock in. I had to go up there and make a pitch, and let my defense do what they do.”
The Panthers made them pay in the bottom of the frame.
Micah Brandon led off with a single. He stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Junior Ben Veletean drove him in with a single to put Boro up 3-1.
Perrysburg replaced starter Tyler Palmer with righthander Aaron Banks.
Cane greeted him with a hard-hit single into left field that caromed off the glove of a diving Noah Lindsey at shortstop. That was his third hit of the game. Veletean scored to make it 4-1 and Cane was thrown out at second for the first out.
Springboro opened the scoring in the second inning.
With one out, Adam Smith walked and Muhlenkamp singled. Davis drove in a run with a groundout. Fortkamp followed with a two-out RBI single.
“It made it way more comfortable being able to go out there with the lead,” Muhlenkamp said. “Just being able to do what I do, get my outs, get off the mound easy. It took a lot of stress off the whole team.”
In the top of the fourth, the Fighting Yellowjackets got their first hit and run with one out.
Braxten Mefford walked and stole second. Cleanup batter Brayden Heitmeyer delivered the team’s first hit of the game to plate him. Muhlenkamp stranded a runner at first.
Fortkamp drove in the fifth run in the bottom of the sixth.
The Panthers played like champions on a big stage. Saturday night, they played at a large stadium named after Canton native Thurman Munson, a former New York Yankees great who died at 32 in the middle of the season in 1979.
Sunday, they will play at the home of the minor-league Akron RubberDucks with all to play for.
“We played in the Reds stadium this year, so we know we can be comfortable in that environment,” Case said. “It’s one of these things where we can’t let the environment take ourselves out of the moment. We stay true to who we are and stay comfortable.”
Pelfrey said his team is experienced enough to not let the moment get to them.
“It’s a big stage, but they’ve played a lot of baseball and we tell them to treat it like another game,” he said. “Go have fun.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘What a group of guys this is.’ Springboro advances to DI state baseball championship game
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
