MASON, Ohio - With the help of a second win over the #3 seeded Ashland Eagles (37-17) this week, the #6 seeded Ohio Dominican Panthers (24-28) baseball team has advanced to the 2025 Great Midwest Baseball Championship Final for the second time in three years.
ODU scored early and often in an 10-5 win over Ashland on Legacy Field on Friday (May 9) afternoon to win Pool A.
Every Panther had a hit and the top five spots in the lineup had multi-hit games, assisting the Panthers in the win. In the game, ODU scored runs in five of the first six innings, including a five-run fifth inning.
Peter Jelenic took little time with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st inning, drilling a fly ball over the right field wall.
One inning later,
Jake Scherette added on with a RBI triple to score
CJ Dean, who reached on a leadoff single. ODU led 2-0 after the first two frames.
Both teams scored in the third inning, answering each other's runs. A leadoff single by
Jacob Adams came around to score by a RBI single by
Drew Emerson.
Ashland got a run back in the top of the fifth inning for a 3-2 deficit. Ten Panthers went to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, leading to five ODU runs on five hits for an 8-2 lead. Emerson and
Mason Kurtz each had two-run singles with
Gianni Passarelli adding his own RBI knock.
Once again, the teams matched with two runs in the sixth inning. Emerson singled home a run and Dean ended the ODU scoring with a RBI double.
One final run for the Eagles came in the seventh inning as the score ended 10-5.
Adams and Emerson had three hits in the game with Emerson plating four runs. Jelenic, Passarelli and Dean finished with two hits as Jelenic scored three times.
Jaxson Stried started the game and threw 5.1 strong innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks. He set a career-high with eight strikeouts in his fourth win of the year.
Gavin Mangus finished the last 3.2 innings with two runs given up for his first save.
The Panthers will match up with the #1 seeded Northwood Timberwolves at 12:00 PM on Saturday (May 10) in the winner-take-all championship game.
