Shelby County baseball fans will be headed to Springfield on Friday for a showdown between Shelby County League rivals Russia and Fort Loramie. The Raiders and Redskins will tangle at 5 p.m. in the D-IV regional final at Springfield High School. The winner advances to the state tournament and a 10 a.m. semifinal next Thursday at Huntington Park in Columbus.
Russia beat Convoy Crestview 7-2 and Loramie beat Seven Hills 2-0. Jacob Hoying pitched well for Russia and Justin Hoying pitched a 1-hitter for Loramie allowing just 5 hits.
Loramie is looking for its fifth state tournament berth and third in the last four years. The Redskins were state champions in 2007.
Russia has been to the state tournament twice in history, but the Raiders haven’t been in 35 years. Russia was state champion in 1971 and runner-up in 1975.
WOW IS RIGHT
Despite entering the postseason with a 9-14 record, Franklin has reeled off five straight wins and punched it’s second straight ticket to the D-II regional final with a 13-10 win over Cincinnati McNicholas on Thursday at the University of Dayton.
The Wildcats, who also beat McNick in last year’s regional semis before falling to Columbus DeSales in the final, await the winner of Bellbrook-Jonathan Alder.
RAIN DELAYS
Coldwater (D-III) and Bellbrook (D-II) had their regional semifinal games on Thursday rescheduled for Friday due to weather.
SEASON OVER
A couple MVP area teams had their tournament runs end Thursday. In D-I, Centerville fell to Moeller 8-4, while in D-III Carlisle lost 11-2 to Marion Pleasant and West Liberty-Salem fell 11-0 to Hamilton Badin.
