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Ohio Spring baseball always seems to fly by and in 2018 that is most definitely evident with the fact we are in Columbus at beautiful Huntington Park for the State Final Four. That means the four best teams in each division will battle it out to see who is the champion.

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OHSAA DIVISION II STATE FINAL - #3 Chaminade Julienne vs #1 Wapakoneta

COLUMBUS - An old-fashioned pitcher’s duel was a perfect climax to the 2018 state baseball tournament. For the Chaminade Julienne faithful, a three-run seventh made the ending even sweeter with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over top-ranked Wapakoneta in the Division II state finals Saturday night.

Scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Wapakoneta pushed across one run, CJ retaliated with three in the top of the seventh to claim the title that eluded the Eagles last year when Tallmadge knocked off Chaminade in the finals.

“That definitely helped a ton,” CJ coach Mike Barhorst said of the 2017 experience. “We’ve been through the whole thing, we’ve already experienced firsts at state. Everyone knew the routine and how everything worked.

“You give up a run and you can’t get yourself down. You can’t get worried about it, you’ve got to fight back. Don’t let things bother you. None of our guys played nervous. They all were loose.”

With two on and one out in the Chaminade seventh, a potential double play ball was hit to second. But a wide throw to second base allowed the Eagles to tie the game.

“We talked all season when we give up a run you’ve got to answer,” noted the head coach of the third-ranked team in the state. “Good teams always find a way to take back the momentum. That’s what we talked about in the huddle (between innings).”

Aggressive baserunning after the error resulted in a putout at third, but CJ still wasn’t done..

Andrew Simones stole second and Ryan Peltier was intentionally walked. The bases were then loaded when AJ Solomon walked on a full-count pitch bringing up Sebastian Gongora. The sophomore move-in from Arizona, who had been robbed of a hit an inning earlier, lined a single to center for what proved to be the game-winning runs.

“That was his second big hit of the tournament,” Barhorst said of the 6-4 left-handed hitter. “He always put himself in position with the bat to put it in play. He came up big when we needed it.”

Nick Wissman then completed the comeback in the bottom of the inning, but not without a scare. Bubba Miller tripled to start the frame for the Redskins, however, two strikeouts and a fly to right gave the Eagles the title.

“He has great stamina,” Barhorst said of Wissman, who allowed just four hits. “He’s very efficient and was throwing strikes. He got ahead in the count and his offspeed was working really well.”

Wapak’s lone run came in unconventional fashion in the sixth. Don Goodes led off with a single and two outs later stole second. The VMI commit moved to third on a balk before sliding home on a passed ball.

Manny Vorhees was the hard-luck loser throwing five innings of one-hit relief, striking out three but walking five. Joel Roediger went two innings permitting two hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts.

HOT TAKES

Missed chances: In losing for just the second time all year, the Redskins failed to score when the opportunity was there on more than one occasion. In the first, Wapak had runners on second and third with one away but with the infield in, a ground ball did not plate a run. In the third with Goodes up to bat, a stolen base turned into an out due to over sliding second. An inning later, a pickoff at second ended another threat.

Player of the game: Wissman kept CJ in the game against a Wapakoneta team that was hitting .378 on the season entering state. The junior right-hander struck out nine and walked two, allowing only an unearned run in moving to 7-1 on the year..

Defensive gems: The Wapakoneta outfield came up big in the sixth inning to keep the game scoreless. First, center fielder Goodes robbed Gongora of an extra-base hit with a knee-high grab deep in left-center. A batter later, left fielder AJ Campos made a nice catch going back on a hard hit ball by Wissman.

State tourney: Chaminade became the first city team from Dayton to win a state baseball title since the Eagles captured the crown in 1970. .. Wapakoneta, which lost to Columbus DeSales 3-2 in the 2012 D-II state finals, was attempting to give the Western Buckeye League a fourth state title in the past six years. Defiance won in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

What’s next?: It will be rebuilding time for Wapakoneta and successful head coach Jason Brandt next year. Eight senior starters have graduated, including five of the top six pitchers. .. Although CJ loses all-state shortstop/pitcher Peltier to Ball State, the Eagles will be as loaded next season as any team that was at state this year. Wissman and Gongora will give Barhorst a strong one-two punch on the mound while six of the nine starters in the championship game return.

LINESCORE

Chaminade Julienne    000 000 3 - 3 3 0
Wapakoneta                 000 001 0 - 1 4 1

Records: Chaminade Julienne 24-5, Wapakoneta 24-2.

Winning Pitcher: Nick Wissman (7 innings, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 4 hits, 9 strikeout, 2 walks).

Losing Pitcher: Manny Vorhees (5 innings, 3 runs, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts, 5 walks). Other: Joel Roediger.

Leading Hitters: (Chaminade) - Ryan Peltier single; Sebastian Gongora single, 2 RBIs; Ben Thomas single. (Wapakoneta) - Don Goodes 2 singles; Wyatt Moyler single; Bubba Miller triple.