Division V State Semifinal Preview: Lynchburg-Clay set to make program history with Final Four appearance

TALE OF THE TAPE 
School: Lynchburg-Clay
Location: Lynchburg, OH
Head Coach: James Flowers (2nd season) 
Mascot: Mustangs 
Overall Record: 24-3
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (13-0)
Region: 19
Runs Scored: 281
Runs Allowed: 48
District Championship: Southeast 2

School: Graham Local
Location: St. Paris
Mascot: Falcons
Head Coach: Spencer Mitchell
Overall Record: 23-11
Conference: Central Buckeye
Region: 20
Runs Scored: 211
Runs Allowed: 128
District Championship: Southwest 3

The spring of 2025 has been full of new history makers in athletic competition, and the latest team to do so is the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs baseball team, as they became the first baseball team in school history to win a regional championship and punch their ticket to the state final four. 

The Mustangs (24-3) will be facing the St. Paris Graham Falcons (23-11) on Friday, June 13 at Canal Stadium in Akron in the Division V State Semifinals, with a trip to the state championship game at stake. 

Each team has played a regular-season game in between the wait for the state semifinal game as the Mustangs faced Unioto (a state final four qualifier in Division IV) and won by a 10-2 score, while Graham played and lost to Russia (also a state final four qualifier, in Division VII) by an 8-2 score. 

Lynchburg-Clay has been building for this moment not just this season, but in previous seasons, as the senior-heavy team has been through the battles of playing in and starting games as freshmen and sophomores, only to overcome heartbreak that happened last season in the district finals in a walk-off loss. 

This season, things have been much different for the Mustangs as they’ve taken the next step by winning a Division I Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, going undefeated in conference play with a 13-0 mark. It wasn’t only that the Mustangs went undefeated in the SHAC, but they were dominant in conference play with a 169-1 run differential in their conference games, along with the Mustangs outscoring their opponents 281-48 this season in 27 games. 

The Mustangs have won their past seven games, including four wins this postseason where they’ve defeated Piketon (6-0) and Portsmouth (3-2) in the district round, followed by a regional win against Lucasville Valley (4-3), and they became regional champions with a nine-inning 5-4 win over St. Clairsville. 

Lynchburg-Clay has become clutch when they’ve needed to be. Whether it be rallying for a one-run win in the postseason, or holding on and fending off an opponent following a strong start on the scoreboard, their one-run victories have varied in the tournament. 

LCHS has also held opponents to 16 shutout wins in ‘25, and they’ve kept the opposition to one run in a game three times. 

Cole Wells in 27 games this season is batting .536 in 101 plate appearances (69 at-bats) with 25 runs, 37 hits, 35 RBI, six doubles, one triple, five home runs, one SAC fly, 26 walks, five hits by pitches, and he’s only struck out 11 times. 

This season as the ace of the Mustangs, Wells is 6-0 with 11 appearances (56.2 innings pitched). He’s allowed 34 hits (less than one per inning), six runs (five earned), 14 walks, no doubles, triples or home runs, and he’s struck out 102 of the 225 batters faced this season. 

Team totals this season for the Mustangs include: .364 BA, 245 hits, 49 doubles, 8 triples, 9 home runs, 15 SAC flies, 14 SAC bunts, 39 HBP, .519 OBP and .501 SLG.

The hits leaders for the Mustangs (20-plus hits) are: Cole Wells (37), Josiah Burns (37), Quin Wells (29), Cody Bell (28), Christian Flowers (22) and Tanner Roberts (21). 

LC’s runs leaders are: Josiah Burns (33), Trevor Niehaus (29), Cody Bell (29), Quin Wells (26), Cole Wells (25), Christian Flowers (24), Braedon West (24) and Elam Faust (23).  

The RBI leaders for Lynchburg-Clay are Quin Wells (40), Cole Wells (35), Tanner Roberts (25), Christian Flowers (24) and Cody Bell (22). 
Walk leaders for LCHS are: Cole Wells (26), Braedon West (25), Josiah Burns (24), Tanner Roberts (21) and Christian Flowers (20). 

Other team leaders are Cody Bell (8 HBP), Cole Wells (.673 OBP min. 25 games), Cole Wells (1.543 OPS), Josiah Burns (8 doubles), Elam Faust (4 triples) and Cole Wells (5 HR). 

Many Mustangs have been clutch this postseason. For instance, in the district semifinals against Piketon, it was Braedon West’s pitching, as he was a big part of a shutout victory. That game also had strong defense by LCHS. There was the district finals against Portsmouth, where LCHS won by a 3-2 score with Wells’ pitching getting out of some tough jams, or the clutch hitting of Cody Bell, who had a two-RBI hit. 

In the regional semifinals, the Mustangs started strong with four runs by building a 4-1 lead when the bottom of the first was complete. From there, they fended off Valley and reached the Elite 8 for the first time in program history. 

Against St. Clairsville in the regional finals, Lynchburg-Clay won with a walk-off in the ninth inning, starting with Elam Faust reaching first base with a base hit with one out, and next was a double by Josiah Burns. With Faust at third base, West hit a sacrifice to score Faust for the trip to Akron and the State Semifinals. 

That path to the Final Four was full of many moments by various players, and that’s how the Mustangs have played all season long. Full team stats for LCHS can be seen by clicking here. https://www.maxpreps.com/oh/lynchburg/lynchburg-clay-mustangs/baseball/…

Now for the Graham Falcons as they enter the state semifinals with a 23-11 overall record. Graham started their tournament run by winning a first-round game against Springfield Greenon by a 2-1 score, as Graham started the tournament as a No. 7 seed in the Southwest 3 District Bracket in Div. 5. 

Next was a quarterfinal win by a 5-1 score against Arcanum, the No. 2 seeded in the district. Graham in the district semifinals won against West Liberty-Salem (a No. 6 seed) at 7-3, followed by a district final win against No. 3 seeded Cincinnati Mariemont by an 8-1 score. 

In the two regional games, Graham defeated Cincinnati Miami Valley Christian Academy at 7-0, followed by a regional final win over Ironton at 5-1. 

Graham stat leaders are: 
- Adam Levy: 28 games, .421 BA, 76 ABs, 31 runs, 32 hits, 23 RBI, 6 doubles, 3 triples, 1 HR
- Jack Traylor: 28 games, .371 BA, 70 ABs, 18 runs, 26 hits, 16 RBI, 6 doubles, 1 triple
- Owen Powell: 28 games, 92 ABs, 22 runs, 32 hits, 16 RBI, 9 doubles, 4 triples
- Breyton Reisinger: 23 games, .343 BA, 70 ABs, 16 runs, 24 hits, 12 RBI, 5 doubles
- Dylan LaFollette: 26 games, .307 BA, 75 ABs, 10 runs, 23 hits, 24 RBI, 7 doubles, 1 HR.

Graham pitching leaders are: 
- Adam Levy: 1.39 ERA, 11 APP, 55.1 IP, 36 H, 18 R, 11 ER, 18 BB, 57 K, 225 BF
- Hayden Vanhoose: 2.15 ERA, 10 APP, 39 IP, 22 H, 16 R, 12 ER, 21 BB, 55 K, 172 BF
- Breyton Reisinger: 0.95 ERA, 8 APP, 29.1 IP, 19 H, 17 R, 4 ER, 19 BB, 38 K, 138 BF.

The Division V State Semifinal game between Lynchburg-Clay and Graham is scheduled for Friday, June 13 at Canal Park in Akron, at 7 p.m. The location for Canal Park is 300 S. Main Street, Akron, 44308.

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