BOWLING GREEN – St. Marys will be making their first appearance in the regional round of the OHSAA Tournament since 2000 on Thursday when they battle Ontario.
This seasons Roughriders sport bring a 15-13 mark into take on the 14-14 Warriors and will be looking to set themselves up with a Friday matchup against either Bay Village or Western Buckeye League rival Defiance.
Last time out for the blue and gold the offense jumped ahead 9-0 after the first two innings as they pushed across six in the first and three in the second inning against Upper Sandusky.
Upper Sandusky staggered a trio of runs from the second to fourth innings but were unable to solve the duo of Ethan Hollandsworth and Joel Kogge who combined to scatter eight hits and three runs on the way to victory.
Ontario’s season has been similar to that of St. Marys, filled with up and downs. The Warriors kicked off their season with just three wins in their first 12 games but rebounded to snag their first district title since 2018.
Peyton Dzugan was victorious on the mound in a 5-2 victory over Clyde as he surrendered just two runs on three hits while walking one and striking out 10.
Ontario has three players committed to play baseball at the next level led by Ashland signee Gage Weaver who is hitting .406 this season with 10 doubles.
Terra State commit Jayden Leach is hitting .256 but has walked 17 times in addition to knocking in 10. Catcher Colten Ramion is a multiple year selection for All-MOAC honors and will play for Lakeland CC next year and is hitting .313 for the Warriors.
St. Marys started slow with just a pair of wins in their first nine games but have been much better in the month of May as they have picked up seven victories in 10 outings.
Roughrider coach Adam Graves who was a junior on the 2000 team remarked of the run “It’s been fun to be there as a player and now coach”. Graves led the squad with a .494 average, the 11th highest in school history and six home runs for a squad that slugged a school record 25 on the year.
Highlighting the 2000 alongside Graves were hard hitting teammates Ken Williams (.465), Curt Behr (.446 with six home runs and a school record 37 RBI), Adam Lauth (.413), and pitchers Josh Lamb and Keith Wiehe who totaled a 16-2 combined mark on the mound.
Senior pitcher Brayden Sullivan who was named 3rd team WBL this season leads the St. Marys pitching staff with a 7-2 record and has thrown 55 innings while allowing just 2.03 earned runs per game.
Offensively the Riders are paced by a pair of 2nd team all-conference selections Jacob Kaiser and Joel Kogge who are hitting .313 and .375 respectively while combining to drive in 36 runs.
The winner of Thursday’s early contest at Carter Park in Bowling Green will return on Friday afternoon to take on Defiance or Bay Village in the regional finals at 5pm.
Any of the games involving St. Marys will be broadcast live on WKKI, located at 94.3 FM locally or online at https://streamdb4web.securenetsystems.net/cirruscontent/WKKI& .