Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Fairborn junior Brayden Harris (5) is mobbed by his teammates who raced down the first base line to congratulate him following a walk-off hit to complete a four-run comeback as the Skyhawks beat Wayne 11-10 in the Division I sectional tournament.
Brayden Harris gets a gatorade bath from his teammates outside of Nischwitz Stadium following Wednesday’s win.
Fairborn players run onto the field in jubilation after Cayden Bailey scored the winning run.
Cayden Bailey charges in and makes a throw to first to get the final out of the seventh inning, a key to preserving the four-run deficit for Fairborn.
Cedarville senior Brayden Criswell heads to third during a five-run second inning for the Indians. Cedarville beat Legacy Christian 13-3 on Wednesday and advances in the D-IV sectional tournament.
Legacy Christian senior Timothy Chavies make the throw to first for an out.
Cedarville senior Tyler Cross connects for a base hit.
Xenia senior Evan Harbison heads in safely to third as junior Ethan Wells slides into second safely behind him. Xenia couldn’t hold onto a late lead as the Bucs lost to Stebbins 9-7 on Wednesday.
Xenia junior Ethan Wells winds up his throw across the diamond from short.
Xenia senior Aidan Solis (right) gets the “go” sign from head coach Brandon Salyers as he scores during the first inning of Wednesday’s game.
FAIRBORN — As soon as the bat connected with the ball, Brayden Harris knew it was a walk-off hit.
Bouncing up the middle toward second base, no fielder came within feet of being able to grab the hard ground ball as it made its way into the center field and allowed Cayden Bailey to score from second to complete a final at-bat comeback win for Fairborn.
“I knew we had a fast runner on second base,” Bailey said. “I just drove it back up the middle where it came from. I knew that was game.”
Fairborn prevailed 11-10 over Wayne at Nischwitz Stadium on Wright State’s campus Wednesday. The game had been postponed from Tuesday and moved from Fairborn’s field to WSU.
The Skyhawks had already overcome an early deficit to lead 5-4 after five innings, but its defense couldn’t get back to the dugout as extended innings allowed Wayne to tack on six runs to go ahead 10-6.
A misplayed fly ball to right center field by Cayden Osborne with one out got the rally underway for Fairborn in the seventh. Jase Duncan fought back in the count to follow up with a walk before Andrew Schmidt singled home the first run of the comeback.
Kannon Reeser on the next pitch laid down a bunt which barely remained in fair territory and was thrown wide of first and into right field by the Wayne catcher. Cayden Bailey followed that with another single into center field to put runners at the corners and cut the Wayne lead to one run.
Keeping up the pressure on a rattled Wayne defense, Bailey took off for second base before the Wayne pitcher began his next windup. In a panic, he turned around and attempted to try and throw out Bailey without checking the runner at third. Bailey ended up beating the throw, and Reeser took off to score the tying run uncontested.
“Once he threw [to second], I’m sending my fastest kid who had over 35 stolen bases this year,” acting head coach Brad Secrest said. “Just let the other team make the mistakes.”
It set the stage for Harris, who had been 0-for-4 so far, to drive a slide through the infield and send his squad flying out of the dugout in celebration.
“We didn’t really get down on each other,” he said. “We stayed up with high energy throughout the game and that’s what won the game for us. Just not giving up.”
Fairborn will travel to face No. 1-seed Springboro, ranked second in this week’s state coaches poll, on Thursday in the D-I sectional final.
FINAL: Fairborn 11, Wayne 10.
Skyhawks score five times in the seventh, getting a 1st/3rd double steal to tie the game before Brayden Harris gets the walk-off single to advance out of the opening round of the D-I tournament. @SkyhawksSports1 pic.twitter.com/LR18ptV3P5
— Steven Wright (@Steven_Wright_) May 15, 2024
Cedarville gets by Legacy
The top of Cedarville’s lineup proved too much to consistently get outs against on Wednesday.
The Indians had multiple five-run innings, aided by 15 hits and 10 stolen bases, as they defeated Legacy Christian 13-3 in six innings. The game was originally set to be played at Cedarville on Tuesday, but was moved to Wednesday and Athletes In Action field with Cedarville remaining as the designated home team.
Tyler Cross, Jackson Miller, Brayden Criswell, Mason Johnson, Jake Winter and Zach Creeden combined to go 12-for-20 with eight RBI in the first six spots of the lineup and had four doubles in the win.
Winter didn’t allow an earned run in going the distance on the mound for Cedarville. LCA scored three times in the top of the first, but only was able to get one runner past first base for the remainder of the game.
Nate Whitt had two hits for the Knights. Legacy Christian finishes the season 12-6 overall.
Cedarville will play at No. 4 Bradford on Monday in the district semifinals.
Xenia unable to hang on against Stebbins
Stebbins clawed away at Xenia’s lead until it was able pull ahead in the seventh inning and knock out Xenia from the D-I tournament on Wednesday.
The Bucs led 7-1 after two innings getting timely hitting by Devin Siebel and Evan Harbison, the latter having an inside-the-park home run.
After giving up the majority of its advantage, Xenia still led by one with three outs remaining. A one-out triple with two runners in scoring position put Stebbins ahead for the first time. Xenia got the tying run on base in the bottom half of the inning, but a long fly ball out to center ended the game.
Xenia was only able to manage one hit in the last five innings.
The game had been originally scheduled for Tuesday and was moved to Nischwitz Stadium earlier Wednesday after rain came into the area.
The Bucs, co-champs of the MVL Valley Division, end the season 12-15 overall.
Greeneview upsets Miami East
A pitcher’s duel saw the Rams scratch out a run late to knock out the second-seed Vikings 2-1 and advance in the D-III tournament.
Chase Walker got a two-out single in the sixth inning to break open a tie game which saw both sides squeak out early runs without the aid of a hit.
Keegan Phillips only allowed three hits and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to secure the win.
Greeneview next plays at No. 4 Brookville on Monday in the district semifinals.
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
