Mustangs end season as district runners-up

ATHENS — The No. 3 seeded Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs had their season ended on Friday evening in Athens in the Division V SE District Finals, as they were defeated by the No. 2 seeded Valley Indians, 9-3 at Wren Stadium on the campus of Ohio University. 

Valley scored runs in the bottom of the first, third and fourth innings, where they collected two runs in both the first and third innings, then took their four-run lead and turned it into a nine-run advantage with five runs scored in the fourth. 

LCHS (21-7) left a total of six runners on the bases in the district final loss. 

The Mustangs had their best inning in the top of the fifth with three runs crossing the plate, but ultimately the Mustangs suffered a six-run loss to finish their season as district runners-up. In the past three seasons, the Mustangs have been district runners-up twice and a district champion once, for a three-season span where they have an overall record of 60-20 (21-7, 2026; 24-4, 2025; and 15-9, 2024) with a postseason record in that span of 9-3. 

LCHS also were undefeated champions of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference (Division I) with a 13-0 mark, and the past two seasons they are 26-0 in the SHAC as they also have a 32-game conference winning streak, as it began on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in a game at Eastern. 

On Friday night (May 29) in Athens, the Indians took an early 2-0 lead with Nick Queen scoring on an error at third base in the first inning. The second run scored when Gabe McNeil hit a single to shallow centerfield to plate Nolan Barnett from second base for a two-run advantage over the Mustangs. 

The top half of the second inning ended for the Mustangs on a 5-3 double play, while Valley was out of their half of the second inning when LCHS went 4-3 for their inning-ending double play. 

The Mustangs had a one-out double hit by senior Elam Faust in the top of the third as the ball sailed to right field, but the inning ended with a strikeout. Valley in the bottom of the third added two more runs with Nolan Barnett hitting a triple for VHS, scoring Queen. The second run of the inning was Braxten Conaway scoring on an infield error for their 4-0 lead. 

LCHS had a lead-off single that slowly rolled down the third base line and stayed fair off the bat of Trevor Niehaus, but the next three at-bats ended in strikeouts by the Mustangs to end the inning. 

Valley added five more runs in the bottom of the fourth with Gavin Hannah hitting a triple to plate Caysen Zieber and Thad Lansing. The score went to 7-0 as Carson Powell hit a single to left field, scoring Gavin Hannah. 

The Indians’ lead went to eight runs when Powell scoured off a base hit to second base by Collin Greene. Valley’s final run of the game and of the fourth inning was Queen scoring a run off a fielder’s choice. 

Lynchburg-Clay put things together in the top of the fifth inning when Max Baker doubled to centerfield, then went to third off a groundout. An infield single by Harley Lewis scored Baker from third, and then Lewis scored when Faust smashed a double. Faust eventually scored what was LC’s final run of the game and season when Quin Wells had a base hit to centerfield for the final 9-3 score. Niehaus also had a hit in the inning, racing to first base with a single with one out. 

Faust in the top of the seventh hit a one-out double to left field, but the game ended on a double play (4-6) by the Indians. 

Lynchburg-Clay finished the game with 10 hits and committed three errors, while Valley had 12 hits and one error. 

At the plate for LCHS, Faust was 3-for-4 with two doubles, one run and one RBI. Niehaus went 2-for-3 with three steals. 

Lewis finished 1-for-4 with a run, a steal and one RBI. Wells was 1-for-3 with one RBI, a steal and a walk. Caden Boone was 1-for-3, and Baker finished 1-for-3 with a run with his hit being a double. 

On the mound for the Mustangs were Niehaus, who pitched 3.1 innings as he totaled one strikeout, and Tanner Roberts, who pitched 2.2 innings and had five strikeouts. 

Barnett pitched all seven innings for Valley, where he totaled eight strikeouts on 111 pitches. 

Valley will play at Ohio University on Tuesday, June 2 at Ohio University in the Division V regional semifinals. 

Lynchburg-Clay seniors are Elam Faust and Caden Boone. 

BOX SCORE
LCHS    000 030 0 — 3 10 3 
VHS      202 500 x — 9 12 1