Brunswick bounces Findlay from tournament

BRUNSWICK 13FINDLAY 8BRUNSWICK – Findlay High's pitching had quieted the bats of 11 straight opponents.In Wednesday's Division I district semifinal, though, the Brunswick Blue Devils were determined to make some noise.Brunswick was outhit by Findlay 12-10. But the Blue Devils were able to mix in some added ingredients – 11 walks, three Findlay errors – and used a six-run sixth-inning rally as a capper to a 13-8 win over the Trojans.Findlay had an 11-game winning streak halted and is ousted from tournament play with an 18-8 record. The Trojans still have Northern Lakes League games on the schedule, including Saturday's game at Sylvania Northview.Brunswick, a member of the Greater Cleveland Conference, upped its record to 18-8 and will face No. 1-seeded and No. 2-ranked Massillon Jackson in Friday's district final in Struthers.Findlay put four runs on the board in its first at-bat and tied the game 7-7 with a three-run burst in the sixth. Brunswick answered with its six-run rally, though, and Zachary Callahan, who relieved Brunswick starter Kayden Draiss in the sixth inning, locked it down from there.Findlay second baseman Jacob Gebhardt had two singles, a double, drove in one run and scored another. Blade Wendt, Landon Echelberry and Reece Stillings all had two hits, and Grant Emans singled and drove in three runs.Elijah Poindexter had a single, home run and four RBI to lead Brunswick, Alex Hubbell had a pair of doubles and drove in three runs; Nick Wojtala and Gavin Trush also had two hits.Findlay 400 003 1—8 12 3Brunswick 301 036 x—13 10 4WP—Draiss. LP—Crate. TOP HITTERS: (Fin) Wendt 2-1B, RBI; Gebhardt 2-1B, 2B, RBI; Echelberry 1B, 2B; Stillings 2-1B, RBI; Emans 1B, 3 RBI. (Bru) Wojtala 2-1B; Hubbell 2-2B, 3 RBI; Callahan 1B, 2 RBI; Poindexter 1B, HR, 4 RBI; Trush 2-1B, RBI. U. SANDUSKY 5VAN WERT 4FORT JENNINGS – Upper Sandusky's Rams seem to be getting "rambunctious" at just the right time.Upper Sandusky ended the regular season with an eight-inning 3-1 win over Shelby.The Rams opened tournament play by going 10 innings to beat Elida, 4-3.The late-game dramatics continued on Wednesday when Upper outlasted Van Wert 5-4 in a Division IV district semifinal game at Fort Jennings.Upper (17-4) will face Galion (19-4) at 5 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to the Division IV regional semifinals to face either Sandusky Perkins or Clear Fork in a June 4 game at Bowling Green State University. Galion beat Lima Bath 1-0 in Wednesday's opener at Fort Jennings.Upper Sandusky overcame a 2-1 deficit, built a 4-2 lead, then held on when Van Wert pulled within a run in the seventh. Josh Heilman went six innings for the win, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out nine. Kaleb Francis gave up a run in the seventh, but then shut Van Wert down to get the save.Brodie Cox had a single and a double, drove in one run and scored two for Upper. Briston Wise singled, homered and drove in two runs for Van Wert.Van Wert 020 001 1—4 9 5U. Sandusky 100 211 x—5 5 2WP—Jo. Heilman. LP—Wise. TOP HITTERS: (VW) McCrackin 2-1B; Davis 2B; Wise 1B, HR, 2 RBI; Werts 2B, RBI; Dickinson 2-1B. (US) Cox 1B, 2B, RBI; Lewis 1B, RBI. MARION LOCAL 6COL. GROVE 5COLDWATER – Columbus Grove nearly erased a five-run deficit in the top of the seventh inning but left the bases loaded in a 6-5 loss to top-seeded Marion Local in a Division VI district semifinal at Coldwater.Caleb Davis had an RBI single for Columbus Grove, which ends its 2025 season at 16-11.Winning pitcher Ian Rinder helped his own cause with a double, a single and an RBI. Hayden Poeppelman also had two hits for Marion Local (17-8), which advances to Friday's district championship game, also at Coldwater. REGULAR SEASON KALIDA 7H. NORTHERN 4DOLA – Kalida and Hardin Northern prepped to today's district semifinals by squaring off in a non-tournament game Wednesday, with Kalida taking a 7-4 win over the Polar Bears.Nolan Hopson had a single, home run and drove in three runs for Hardin Northern. Xander Wilson also had two hits for the Polar Bears (17-7), who face McComb today at 2 p.m. in a Division VII district semifinal at Findlay High School. Arcadia and New Riegel clash in the second game.Kalida got two hits each from Bubba Smith (1B, 3B), Caden Looser (2-1B) and Jaxon Hoffman (1B, 2B) and improved to 18-8. The Wildcats play Fort Jennings and Leipsic takes on Miller City in today's district semifinals at Patrick Henry.Kalida 004 100 2—7 10 1H. Northern 300 010 0—4 5 2WP—Siebeneck. LP—Guinn. TOP HITTERS: (Kal) Smith 1B, 3B; Looser 2-1B; Hoffman 1B, 2B. (HN) Wilson 2-1B; Hopson 1B, HR, 3 RBI.