Stillings 'in a groove' as Trojans roll past Whitmer

FINDLAY – Reese Stillings will likely long remember the final varsity baseball game he played at Woody Curlis Field.After what he did on Wednesday, many others will, too.Stillings allowed just three hits in pitching a complete game shutout. He also went 4-for-4 at the plate, drove in three runs and scored two as Findlay beat Toledo Whitmer 9-0 in a Division I district semifinal."My last home game, and my defense backed me up," said Stillings, sharing the credit for Findlay's 20th win of the 2026 season."They made so many plays out there. I couldn't have done it without them, and I'm super thankful for them and the opportunities I've had."Those opportunities will continue Friday when Findlay, seeded No. 8 in the field, faces No. 9 seed Massillon Jackson in a 4 p.m. district final at Bob Cene Park in Struthers. Findlay has won eight straight and is 20-7 overall, matching the 2021 (20-9) and 2013 (20-9) seasons for the school's winningest record since 2004 (23-7). Massillon Jackson, which beat Lorain by an identical 9-0 margin in Wednesday's other semifinal, is riding a 10-game winning streak and is 18-7.Toledo Whitmer was hoping to avenge two regular season losses to Findlay in Northern Lakes League play.Costly mistakes and Findlay's ability to take advantage of them never allowed the Panthers to get into a position to do that."They are a very, very, very aggressive team," Findlay High coach Jordan Nell said after Findlay stole 11 bases and scored five unearned runs, with most of Whitmer's uncharacteristic six errors coming on overthrows on steal attempts."We felt we needed to take their aggressiveness on the bases, that we needed to play their game today. We've run the bases well (this season). Their pitcher had some cues that we picked up on early and we were able to take a lot of extra bases on them pretty quickly."Findlay appeared to run itself out of a rally in the first inning. Jackson Flechtner drew a lead-off walk and Luke Crates bunted him to second. Flechtner rounded second too far though, and after Crates was thrown out at first, Whitmer first baseman Collin Lawrence gunned a throw to second that doubled off Flechtner.On this day, though, Whitmer was in a giving mood.Blade Wendt came through with a two-out single, stole second and scored when Stillings went down and lined an RBI single to center.Jacob Gebhardt then hit slow grounder to short but the hurried throw sailed wide and into foul ground down the right field line. Stillings, running all the way, scored from first.Caleb Kanney's grounder to short resulted in a low throw that skipped past the first baseman, allowing another run to score. Hunter Sertel walked, and a throwing error on his steal brought in yet another run.When the smoke settled, two hits, two walks and three Whitmer errors had Findlay sitting on a 4-0 lead."That's what it comes down to in tournament, execution, because everything is going to be at a higher level now," Nell said."Everything is under a microscope, so you have to play loose, play with energy and you have to execute in these situations."That's the beautiful thing about having an experienced roster this year. These guys have seen it before, both ways."Findlay added a two-run, two-out rally in the second.Luke Crates singled, stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. Wendt singled, also stole second, raced to third when that throw got loose and scored on Stillings' looping liner to right.Findlay added a run in the fifth. Stillings greeted reliever Domo Arend with his third hit of the day and Gebhardt walked. Kanney put down a sacrifice bunt and the run scored when Kanney, Whitmer second baseman Evan Declercq and the ball all arrived at first at the same time.Findlay polished off the victory with another two-run, two-out rally in the sixth.Crates and Wendt walked and Stillings delivered his fourth hit of the day. On a double steal, Wendt scored on an overthrow at third.Stillings, a senior right-hander, gave up a lead-off single to Whitmer's Mitchell Rose (2-1B) and beaned Arent, the Panthers' No. 3 hitter. He set down 11 of the next 12 batters, though, and at one point retired five consecutive hitters on just nine pitches.That stretch started in the fourth inning with a two-pitch fly ball to right, then a four-pitch pop-up to short. Lawrence lined out to right on the first pitch he saw to end the inningIn the top of the fifth, Whitmer's Marquis Hunter hit a first-pitch towering pop-up that Stillings took care of himself. Declercq, also on the first pitch, then hit a shot between first and second, but Sertell dove and knocked it down, then scrambled to his feet and threw the runner out at first."I love pitching fast when I'm in a groove," said Stillings, who threw 95 pitches over seven innings."We were up, but I'm still thinking it's a close game so I can't just let loose or anything. I just focused on getting it over the plate and my defense made the plays."Enough plays to get Findlay to the brink of the Division I regional, a destination the Trojans have not been to since the 2004 and 2005 seasons."We're just going to take it one game, one pitch at a time," Nell said. "Then we'll go from there."Whitmer 000 000 0—0 3 6Findlay 420 012 x—9 8 1WP—Stillings. LP—Sobecki. TOP HITTER: (TW) Rose 2-1B; Brindley 2B. (Fin) Wendt 2-1B; Stillings 4-1B, 3 RBI; Crates 1B; Kanney 1B.