“I really am just excited for more than our program — I’m excited for our kids,” Pelfrey said this week as Springboro prepared to face Perrysburg in a Division I state semifinal at 7 p.m. Saturday at Canal Park in Akron. “It’s just been a great group of kids that from day one, they have worked hard and they play for each other, and I’m just excited for them to have this opportunity.”
The Panthers are headed to Akron for the second time in program history and the second time under Pelfrey, who has been at Springboro since 1993.
The Panthers won the GWOC with a 12-2 mark in league play, and they are 24-7 overall.
They have won six in a row since losing to fellow-Division I final four participant Lakota West in the regular season finale, and their only other loss since the beginning of May is to Hamilton Badin.
The Rams qualified for the state tournament in Division III, so it is safe to say the Panthers are battle-tested at this point.
(Lakota West plays Lewis Center Olentangy in the other Division I state semifinal Saturday.)
“Southwest Ohio is definitely a very tough baseball area,” Pelfrey said. “There’s a lot of great schools, especially at the Division I level. There are some powerhouses that are challenging to beat.”
They beat defending state champion Mason in a regional final last weekend, a rain-delayed 8-6 victory that called on Pelfrey to use four pitchers to get 21 outs and secure the victory.
That was perhaps fitting as the pitching staff was a major question mark heading into the season but has acquitted itself well all spring.
“I’m going to give credit to our pitching coach. Shawn Schmidt has done a great job of nurturing them along,” Pelfrey said. “Our team really supports each other, and I think our defense has been been outstanding most of the year, so they know if they throw strikes that they got a chance to be successful.”
Senior Colten Muhlenkamp is 8-1 with a 2.86 ERA on the season while sophomore Dylan Brabston is 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA and junior Jacob Rhinehart is 6-2 with a 1.78 ERA and three saves.
“We graduated a really good group of seniors last year on the pitching staff, and our player that we thought was going to be our top pitcher this year, Nick Hutchinson, ended up having arm issues, so he’s been able to DH for us, but he’s not pitched at all,” Pelfrey said. “So really our top four from last year were gone, so Colton Muhlenkamp has really done a great job of stepping up and kind of being the leader of our staff, and we’ve had some other guys that have stepped up and done a great job for us.”
Hutchinson is hitting .395 with a team-high five home runs, but he has competition for top run-producer in the Springboro lineup.
His 24 RBIs trail Jacob Cane and Ben Veletean, who both have 28, and Adam Smith’s 26 for a team that led the GWOC in batting average.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Meanwhile, All-GWOC first team outfielder Vince Fortkamp is batting .439 with 14 RBIs and 12 stolen bases and All-GWOC first team infielder Veletean is hitting .388 with 10 doubles and nine steals.
“Our kids have been resilient and just found ways to keep improving and supporting each other and getting better,” Pelfrey said.
The Panthers are getting set to face a Perrysburg team playing in the state semifinals for the second year in a row and fourth time overall.
The Yellow Jackets (23-8) lost in the semifinals last season and in 2003. They made the championship game in 2011 but lost to Lakota East.
“I know they’re well-coached,” Pelfrey said of a squad in its 40th season under coach Dave Hall. “He’s done a great job. They were in the state final four last year, so they have that experience coming back. I know they’re very athletic. They have a couple key bats at the top of the lineup that are exceptional players.”
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