Blue Lion senior Tanner Lemaster throws his hands in the air in celebration after the final out was recorded to secure the victory in the Regional Semifinal game against Bloom-Carroll on Thursday, June 1, 2023.
Photos by Mary Kay West
Blue Lion seniors Jonah Waters (left) and Tanner Lemaster (right) celebrate after clinching a spot in the D-II Regional Championship game after defeating Bloom-Carroll 4-2 on Thursday, June 1, 2023.
Photos by Mary Kay West
Jonah Waters of Washington gets a lead at second base during the third inning of their game against Bloom-Carroll on Thursday, June 1, 2023. The Blue Lions would win 4-2 to advance the the Regional Championship.
Photos by Mary Kay West
COLUMBUS — The Washington Blue Lion Baseball team will be playing for a trip to the State Final Four on Friday after defeating the Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs 4-2 on Thursday, June 1 in the Regional Semifinals.
Washington started Titus Lotz on the mound, but he was removed from the mound due to an elbow injury after walking the first two batters of the game for the Bulldogs. Lotz would transition to first base and Tanner Lemaster came on to pitch. Lemaster would pitch the rest of the game, earning the victory.
“Tanner was Tanner,” Blue Lion head coach Mark Schwartz said. “It was probably the gutsiest pitching performance I’ve ever seen as a coach. They only gave him eight warm-up pitches and he gave up zero earned runs. He pretty much held them in check. He let our defense do the work.”
He worked seven innings, allowing no runs on three hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. The two runs scored for the Bulldogs came from the two walks issued by Lotz.
Bloom-Carroll started Robertson on the mound. He pitched two innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
Hall pitched three innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and one strikeout.
Dawson pitched the final two innings, allowing no base runners while striking out two.
The Blue Lions got the scoring going in the top of the first inning. With two outs, A.J. Dallmayer singled and reached second base on a throwing error, followed by a single to right field from Jonah Waters that scored Dallmayer.
The Bulldogs responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. After the first two batters were walked, the next batter struck out and the clean-up batter hit a two-run single to left field to give Bloom-Carroll the lead.
Washington made things interesting in the top of the third inning. John Wall led off with a single to right field and then Lotz and Dallmayer walked to load the bases. Waters followed with a two run single up the middle to score both Wall and Lotz. Lemaster was next and he laid down a sacrifice bunt to put Dallmayer on third and Waters on second with just one out. The Blue Lions then failed to execute a sacrifice squeeze bunt that got Dallmayer out between third and home. Yeazel then walked and the next batter was retired to end the inning with Washington gaining a 3-2 advantage.
Bloom-Carroll had runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the third inning but were unable to bring a run home.
The Blue Lions added the final run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Will Miller drew a walk and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Evan Lynch. After the next batter was retired, Lotz ripped a single to right field to score Miller.
Again, the Bulldogs had runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Lemaster was able to get out of the half-inning with no runs scored.
Lemaster and the Washington defense would retire the next nine Bloom-Carroll batters in order to close out the game and clinch a Regional Championship appearance on Friday, June 2 at 5 p.m., where they will take on the Cambridge Bobcats. Cambridge defeated New Philadelphia by a score of 3-2 on Thursday.
Offensively for Washington, Waters led the team going 2 for 4 with three RBI.
Dallmayer was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Lotz was 1 for 3 with an RBI, a walk and a run scored.
Wall was 1 for 4 with a run scored.
Miller also scored a run for the Blue Lions.
“Our defense has been great all year, just like our pitching,” Schwartz said. “Sam Lotz, a freshman, made a great play in the seventh at third; our middle infield was great, our outfield was great. We got some timely hits, especially from Jonah Waters. Jonah’s been Mr. Clutch for us this year. It seems like every game, or every other game, he’s always getting a big two-out hit and he did it again today to get us started in the first. I can’t say enough about him. Overall, it was a great team win.”
As for who may start for the Blue Lions on Friday, Schwartz said, “We have Will Miller and A.J. Dallmayer available. We have plenty of pitching. We’re leaning toward Will to start and A.J. to finish, but, we may change our minds, I’m not sure yet.”
Record-Herald Sports Editor Chris Hoppes contributed to this report.
