By Will Swary

DELAWARE- An early offensive outburst proved to be enough as No. 15 Olentangy Orange used strong defense and a commanding pitching performance from Dayton commit Luke Wolford to win the district title at Ohio Wesleyan on Thursday with a 3-1 win over Pickerington Central.

Olentangy Orange would get all the offense they needed in the 1st inning, getting to Pickerington Central starting pitcher Zach Beaver for three runs.

Luke Wolford walked to begin the inning and would make it to third with one out when a Brady Harris single drove him home for the game’s first run. Harris would move over to third on a double by junior Paul Trick and both Harris and Trick would come home on the next at bat as Brai Beckel slapped a two RBI single to give Olentangy Orange three runs after one inning.

Pickerington Central would score their only run in the top of the 2nd inning when a leadoff single by Akron commit Evan Jensen would be converted in to a run. Jensen was bunted over to second before an infield single moved him to third with one out. Jensen came home on a fielder’s choice for Pickerington’s only run of the game.

After the first two innings of offense, both pitchers settled down in to a groove. Zach Beaver was able to get over his three run 1st inning retiring the lineup in order the next two innings.

Using his 84-86 mph fastball and a 72-75 mph curveball, he was able to lock in his command that wasn’t there in the first. Beaver went the distance for Pickerington Central striking out six in the losing effort.

Luke Wolford stayed in command the rest of the game using his 84-86 mph fastball and a 69-71 mph curveball to attack an aggressive Tiger lineup. Wolford faced the minimum of three batters an inning in his remaining five innings on the hill throwing nine ground ball outs in those last five innings on his way to striking out four batters on the day for a complete game victory.

Olentangy Orange advances to regional play where they will take on Thomas Worthington HS at Dublin Coffman on Thursday, May 24, with the game time listed at 2:00pm.