MASON, Ohio - In their second game of the 2023 Great Midwest Baseball Championship, the Ohio Dominican Panthers baseball team used two big innings to stick with a 7-3 win over the #6 seeded Walsh Cavaliers on Thursday (May 11) at Legacy Field.
The Panthers used four runs in the sixth inning to snap a 3-3 tie and hold off the Cavaliers in the winner's bracket semifinals on Friday (May 12).
Walsh started the scoring in the first inning with a RBI single to center field. Ohio Dominican wasted little time to respond and take the lead back with three runs in the second.
Devan Nail (Elyria, Ohio) led off with a single and
Alex Brill (Amherst, Ohio) followed with a walk. A wild pitch allowed both runners into scoring position.
David Silva (Tontogany, Ohio) scored Nail with a groundout to third base.
Michael McFadden (Brunswick, Ohio) walked before
Spencer Tammaro (New Albany, Ohio) drove in Brill with a RBI single. After a bases loaded walk,
Jordan Daniels (Blacklick, Ohio) grounded out to end the scoring with a 3-1 ODU lead.
With single runs in the third and fifth innings, Walsh tied the game at three. Another big inning was the key for ODU as they regained the lead with four runs crossing the plate. A double and two walks loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. Tammaro singled home two runs before
Brennen Hunt (Ashland, Ohio) put down a suicide squeeze to score another run. After a pitching change,
Lane Marshall (Wooster, Ohio) capped the frame with his own RBI single.
Left-hander
Michael Lesiecki (Uhrichsville, Ohio) grinded through five innings with three runs allowed. He allowed five hits, four walks in an outing that he struck out four. He earned his fifth win of the season.
Tyler Sullivan (Madiera, Ohio) followed with 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, scattering four hits and four strikeouts.
Max Whitesell (Dayton, Ohio) got his first career save with 1.2 perfect innings in relief.
With nine hits on the day, eight of the nine starters got a hit. Tammaro was the only multi-hit and multi-RBI game with two hits and three runs batted in. McFadden walked twice and scored both times as did Brill, with a double and walk.
The Panthers will face the #1 seed, Northwood, in the winner's bracket final at 11:00 AM on Friday (May 12) on Legacy Field. A win punches a ticket to the Championship game while a loss pushes the Panthers into the loser's bracket final at 6:00 PM Friday night.
