Extra-inning walk-off sends Whiteoak to district finals

There had to be a winner decided on Saturday in the Division VII District Semifinals, as the No. 3 seeded Whiteoak Wildcats and the No. 11 Miller Falcons squared off at Logan High School. 

On this day, it was Whiteoak gaining the clutch hit that brought home the game-winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning, sending the Wildcats to the district final on Sunday afternoon with a 6-5 victory. 

WHS (13-9) forced extra innings with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, then from there they battled and battled with the Falcons, as neither team could gain the advantage on the scoreboard until the bottom of the 11th inning when Izayah Clift knocked in Abraham Flader with a line drive double to left field, scoring Flader from first base as he led off the inning with a single to right field on a 1-1 count. 

The win puts Whiteoak in the Div. VII District Finals on Sunday, June 1 at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe against the No. 2 seeded Franklin Furnace Green Bobcats (17-5) at 2 p.m., as the Bobcats were the champions of the Southern Ohio Conference I. 

Neither team scored a run in the first two innings, and the score stayed the same after the fourth inning as both teams were scoreless in the fourth. Both teams scored two runs each in the fifth inning for a 4-3 Miller lead. 

Miller added another run to their advantage in the top of the sixth for a two-run lead and a 5-3 score. That lead wasn't enough because WHS rallied with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, tying the score at 5-5 and moving the game into extra innings.

The bottom of the seventh began with a walk on seven pitches by Clift, followed by an out. Next was a walk on four pitches, allowing Zander Roades a trip to first base. During the at-bat Miller was called for a balk, putting Clift on second base. 

Next came the tied score, with Clift and Roades moving up a base each on a wild pitch, and both runners scored off a line drive hit to left field by Jacob Kiley and the 5-5 score. 

In the eighth inning, Miller had one base runner, while WHS hit two singles in the inning by Christian Hite and Caden Butler, but Hite was involved in a double play, and Butler was left on the bases. 

The ninth inning saw Miller lead off with a single, but he too was left on the bases. WHS in the bottom of the ninth had a single by Clift, and Roades was intentionally walked with two outs, but they stayed on the bases as the inning ended with a fly ball to centerfield. 

The 10th inning for the Falcons was a 1-2-3 inning, while WHS led off the bottom of the 10th with a double by Jacen Applegate, but the next three batters were retired in order. 

Miller didn’t have a base runner in the top of the 11th, and for WHS, they scored the aforementioned game-winning run in walk-off fashion as Flader scored off a double by Clift. 

Roades was the winning pitcher, pitching 7.1 innings of relief, allowing one run (unearned) on four hits and a walk. Roades finished with 11 strikeouts. Applegate had the no-decision, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 3.2 innings. 

Four Whiteoak players finished with two hits each. Clift was 2-for-4 with two runs, one RBI and two walks. Applegate went 2-for-5 with one RBI, while Kiley was 2-for-5 with one run. Butler went 2-for-5. 

WHS also had one hit from the following players: Rowan Roades (1-for-1, two runs, two walks), Hite (1-for-4, one walk) and Flader (1-for-5, one run). Also for WHS, Wyatt Ruark scored a run. Ruark and Roades were each hit by a pitch, and collecting steals were Clift (two), Flader and Hite (two). 

BOX SCORE
MHS    002 021 000 00 — 5 7 0 
WHS    001 020 200 01 — 6 11 6