L-B faces Fairview, Vikings take on Blue Jackets in semis

REGIONAL BASEBALL ELIDA – Liberty-Benton's Matt Rader and Leipsic's Darren Henry achieved a couple of milestone wins this season.Both will be looking for just one win today, though, when the Eagles and Vikings compete in the OHSAA regional baseball tournaments.Rader achieved his 150th career win in guiding L-B to its first district championship since 1997. The Eagles, 20-5, will face Fairview (25-4) at 5 p.m. today in a Division V regional semifinal game at Elida. Coldwater and Amanda Clearcreek will square off in today's 2 p.m. opener, with the winners returning Thursday for the 5 p.m. regional championship at Ed Sandy Field.After winning a fifth straight Blanchard Valley Conference crown, L-B used two clutch tournament wins – 3-2 over Paulding and 5-1 over Swanton – to claim its first district championship in 30 years.Junior right-hander Jackson Knepper, 10-0 with a 1.81 earned-run-average, has two wins and a save in three tournament games. BVC Player of the Year Kooper Leatherman, a .403 hitter with 18 doubles and 30 runs-batted-in as well as 4-1 as a pitcher with one save and a 1.11 ERA, has also come up big for L-B.Rader will also be counting on key contributions from several other all-league selections: Zach Elchert (.404, 5 HR, 27 RBI), Reid Irwin (.449, 15 RBI, 13 stolen bases), Connor Barbara (.375, 15 RBI, 31 runs), Isaac Schworm (.378, 15 RBI, 20 runs), Taden Troyer (2.96, 13 RBI0 and Grady Latta (.353, 12 RBI).Fairview will have an edge in tournament experience considering the Apaches went 28-4 last season and advanced all the way to the Division VI state semifinals.Fairview returned eight starters and seven pitchers from that 2025 club that fell 4-2 to Berlin Hiland in the state semifinals. Headlining that group is Elijah Arend, a pitcher/infielder who was first-team all-state as a junior.Gavin Palladino, and outfielder and left-handed pitcher, also returned this season, along with honorable mention all-Ohio utility player Anthony Singer, outfielder/pitcher Shady Fitch, catcher Noah Shininger, middle infielder Logan Olinger and utility man/pitcher Jonah Shininger.Fairview also had some close calls in tournament play, edging Ottawa Hills by one run (7-6) and Tinora 2-1 in 12 innings before blanking Edison 4-0 in the district final. DIVISION VIIBOWLING GREEN – It will be a matchup of former state champions when Leipsic faces New Riegel today in a 2 p.m. Division VII regional semifinal at Bowling Green's Carter Park. New Riegel won a Class A state title in 1969; Leipsic was the small-school state champion in 1976.Leipsic coach Darren Henry, who achieved his 400th career win earlier this season, has the Vikings in the regional field for the third time in five years. The Vikings also made the regional level in 2022, and reached the regional finals in 2024.John Dewar, who was on Leipsic's 2024 regional team, is one of the Vikings' veterans. On the mound, he was 3-2 with a 4.91 ERA, while batting a hefty .482 with one home run and 16 RBI.Dewar was first-team all-BVC, along with outfielder Avery Paris (.349, 22 RBI). Colin Niese (3-2, 1.75 ERA; .377, 15 RBI) and Aaron Hazelton (2-5, 4.67 ERA; .350, 15 RBI) were second-team picks.Leipsic (15-10) and New Riegel (14-11) will clash in the regional opener at 2 p.m. with McComb (16-12-2) and Montpelier (17-6) meeting in the second game.With three of the four regional semifinalists sporting records with double-digit losses strength of schedule and late-season momentum could carry considerable weight in determining which teams advance to Thursday's regional championship game. BASEBALL ALL-DISTRICT FINDLAY – Findlay High's Reece Stillings and Jordan Nell were named player and coach of the year in the Division I all-Northwest District baseball selections for the 2026 season.Stillings, a senior right-hander, had a 5-3 pitching record with a 2.38 earned-run-average and 41 strikeouts. Stillings also batted .341 with 21 runs-batted-in and 24 runs scored.In his third year as FHS head coach, Nell guided the Trojans to a 20-8 overall record, tying the 2013 and 2021 teams (both 20-9) for most wins since Findlay went 23-7 in 2004. The Trojans also went 11-3 in Northern Lakes League games and won a share of the NLL Buckeye Division championship. Four other FHS players joined Stillings on the all-district first team, including seniors Blade Wendt, who batted .438 with 20 RBI, 27 runs scored and 17 stolen bases, and center fielder Luke Crates, a defensive standout who also hit .356 with 24 RBI, 25 runs scored and 16 stolen bases.Also first team are junior outfielder Jackson Flechtner, who hit .412 in the lead-off spot with seven doubles, three triples, 13 RBI and a team-leading 35 runs scored, and junior pitcher Cole Hull, who was 6-1 with a 4.62 ERA on the mound and a .310 hitter who drove in 14 runs.