Mustangs bring home district title for first time since 1997

ATHENS — This time, the championship belongs to the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs. 

One year after suffering a heartbreaking walk-off loss to Portsmouth in the district finals, the Div. V District championship trophy is going to Highland County, as LCHS defeated Portsmouth 3-2 Thursday at Bob Wren Stadium at Ohio University. 

Behind the pitching of senior Cole Wells, the Mustangs played small ball, got out of tough jams and stepped up in the big moments to secure the win, advancing to the regional semifinals for the first time since 1997, as this championship is the second district title in program history.

"I can’t put into words how this feels yet. It’s been about 28 years since Lynchburg-Clay has won one (district championship) in baseball, so I’m still pretty speechless at the moment,” LCHS head coach James Flowers said. "Lynchburg is a special place, for sure, but the emotions poured out of me because I know how hard these kids have worked for this moment. They they've got goals above and beyond this."

Lynchburg-Clay scored two runs in the bottom of the second – coming off a first inning where neither team had a base runner – as Quin Wells forced a walk on a full count, followed by a seven-pitch walk by Trevor Niehaus. Both runners advanced a base, then came the clutch hit as Cody Bell hit a single on a 2-2 count to centerfield, scoring both Quin Wells and Niehaus for the two-run lead.  

When Quin Wells took third base by sliding underneath the tag, the momentum of the inning went to the Mustangs.

"I'm still not sure what was unfolding. Both corner infielders were crashing. Quin, being a freshman, he's got a lot of experience, played a lot of high level baseball, saw a bag and decided he was going to take it. It kind of caught me off guard a little bit," Flowers said. "I bring up these freshmen and you hope they can step up in these moments. Hats off to Quin, that kid, he doesn't understand fear at all. He just plays fearless, does his thing, and goes hard every pitch."

Portsmouth cut the Lynchburg-Clay lead in half with a run in the top of the third as Jacob Roth – who hit a single to centerfield with one out – scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Trevin Brooks for the 2-1 score as the Trojans left two runners stranded.

LC in the bottom of the third left a runner on the bases as Josiah Burns had a one-out double. 

Neither team had a base runner in the fourth, and the fifth saw the Mustangs work out of a bases-loaded jam with Cole Wells striking out the final batter of the inning on a called third strike. 

After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth by Cole Wells and his defense, the Mustangs played small ball to start the bottom of the sixth, starting with Burns drawing a walk, then a sacrifice bunt by Braedon West moved Burns to second.

Next, an infield hit by Cole Wells moved Burns to third, and the throw to first went to right field, scoring Burns from third for a 3-1 lead.

Portsmouth scored a final run in the seventh on another hit by Brooks, scoring Nik Copley with two outs, but the final batter of the inning struck out swinging. 

Wells pitched all seven innings for the Mustangs, allowing two earned runs on eight hits and four walks with 12 strikeouts. 

"For all the young kids out there, anybody reading this article that inspires to be great at this game, I wish they could see the work Cole puts in when nobody’s watching," Flowers said. "In the mound visit in the top of the seventh I said, 'Hey, the kid got the leadoff hit, kudos to him.' I told Cole he was built for this, you’ve trained for this, and go get what’s yours, and Cole delivered. He’s thrown 43 innings before giving up his first run of the season, and Cole gets the best of everything we face, so that says a lot about Cole and his determination." 

Lynchburg-Clay finished with three hits, as Bell was 1-for-2 with two RBI. Burns was 1-for-2, scoring one run, and he walked once. Cole Wells went 1-for-3.

Also for the Mustangs, Quin Wells and Niehaus each drew a walk and scored a run. 

Flowers also congratulated Portsmouth on their success this season and the success of their program.

"I want to say has off to Portsmouth. That’s a great team, coached by a great guy," Flowers said. "He’s doing things the right way, building a great outstanding program down at Portsmouth High School. Congratulations to Coach Duncan and I’m sure we’ll see each other down the road." 

The Mustangs (21-3) play Wednesday, June 4 at 5 p.m. at Marietta College, facing the winner of Wheelersburg and Valley in the regional semifinals.

"Well, going to be a first time for everything. It'll be my first, for sure, school second in history in the regional semis," Flowers said of the upcoming regional semifinal game. "Coach Aric  Fiscus, one of my assistants, was the head coach of the 1997 team that went last time, and he talks a lot how these teams are comparable to each other, talent wise, strength wise. So, we're gonna get back after it. We're gonna get in the cages, we're gonna get in some bullpens, and we're gonna keep grinding."

BOX SCORE
PHS      001 000 1 — 2 8 1 
LCHS    020 000 1 — 3 3 0