SPRINGFIELD — Versailles survived a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning of a Division III district final against Dayton Christian on Wednesday at Kenton Ridge High School and earned a regional berth with a 13-11 victory.
The Tigers, which lost in district final games the last two years, advance to face Middletown Madison in a regional semifinal on Thursday at Wright State’s Nischwitz Field.
The district final game started on Wednesday in Springfield but was suspended in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Warriors ahead 10-9 due to rain.
Dayton Christian added one run in the top of the sixth inning on Thursday to boost its lead to 11-9, but the Tigers stormed back in the bottom of the sixth.
Brayden Robinson led off the inning with a single on an infield grounder, then Nathan Wagner drew a walk. Connor VanSkyock loaded the bases after beating out a bunt hit back to the pitcher, then Zach Schlater hit a single to center field to score two runs and tie it 11-11.
Schlater was thrown out trying to advance to second on his hit, and Andrew DeMange then hit a sacrifice fly to center field that allowed another run to score and put the Tigers ahead 12-11.
The Tigers didn’t stop with two outs. Kyle Pothast and Zach Griesdorn hit singles, then Will Eversole was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Pothast scored on a balk by the pitcher before Garrett Toops struck out to end the inning.
Dayton Christian loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with one out after a walk, single and hit batter, but VanSkyock struck out the next batter and then coaxed a groundout to end it.
VanSkyock picked up the win. He pitched both innings on Thursday and allowed one earned run on two hits and one walk. He had one strikeout.
• Track and field
Division II regional meet starts in Piqua
The Division II regional meet started in Piqua on Thursday. Most events were preliminaries, but some finals were held.
Though no area athletes qualified for state in the finals that were held Thursday, several qualified in preliminaries for finals that will be held on Saturday when the meet concluded.
Anna’s Hannah Shoemaker finished second in the girls 100 meter hurdles (15.91) and first in the 300 hurdles (45.27) preliminaries to advance to Saturday’s finals. The Rockets’ 800 relay finished fourth and the 400 relay finished eighth.
Versailles’ Ava Moran finished third in the 200 dash and fifth in the 100 dash and advances to Saturday’s finals. The Tigers’ 800 relay finished third, 400 relay finished seventh and 1,600 relay finished seventh.
Anna’s Alex Bruggaman finished third in the boys 110 hurdles to advance to Saturday’s finals while Anna’s Ian Bollheimer finished sixth and Jeffrey Richards finished seventh in the 100 dash and Colton Nanik finished seventh in the 300 hurdles. The Rockets’ 800 relay finished third, 400 relay finished fifth and 1,600 relay finished eighth.
The top four finishers in each event in Saturday’s finals will earn a state berth.
