Ontario keeps rolling, defeats Washington Court House Washington in Division II state semifinals

AKRON, Ohio – Once teams get to the state tournament at Canal Park, records can be thrown out the window.

Washington Court House Washington entered the OHSAA Division II state tournament with just one loss at 27-1. Ontario came into the game with a record barely above .500 at 16-14.

But it didn’t matter, as Ontario won the game 2-1 to advance to Saturday’s state championship game against Kenston.

“We just finally started to come together as a family,” Ontario head coach Mark Ellis said. “Early in the season, we had individuals going their separate ways and then down the road, they started to go in one direction.”

Ontario struck first in the fourth inning, as Gage Weaver led the inning off with a single and stole second. He moved the third on a sacrifice bunt by Carter Weaver. Later in the inning, Braxton Hall shot a single into left field to drive in the run.

Washington answered in its half of the fourth on a Will Miller RBI single, but had a chance to take the lead later in the inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, John Wall hit a ball up the middle that was fielded by center fielder Peyton Dzugan. The junior made perfect throw to catcher Jake Chapman to get Miller at the plate and keep the game tied.

“I think our warmup sets us up perfectly for those situations because we've been able to get multiple throws in from the outfield,” Dzugan said. “I knew that situation would come, and all the pressure is on me and I delivered. I just threw it as hard as I could and it wound up right there.”

The Warriors retook the lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with one out and Carter Weaver hit a ball off the first baseman’s glove to score Colton Ramion, who had singled earlier in the inning.

Carter Weaver took the mound for Ontario and went the first four innings, giving up the one run on two hits. He walked four and struck out five. Carter Walters went the final three innings and allowed just one baserunner while striking out three.

“If you look over there (at Washington), they had some horses,” Ellis said. “So to hold them to three hits, to me is remarkable. But our pitching has really come around and matured.”

That runner allowed by Walters came with two outs in the seventh inning when Wall got an infield single and reached second on an error. But Walters got the next hitter to hit a chopper to second baseman Braxton Hall, who flipped to Carter Weaver at first base to end the game.

“I just wanted to get them out knowing there were two outs,” Walters said. “We were already up one with two outs. I just wanted to end it.”

This is just the second trip to the state tournament for the Warriors and the first since 1994, when they won the whole thing.