Waynedale finishes unfinished business in championship style
These are the moments every team hopes to celebrate in OHSAA baseball, and the Golden Bears have had plenty of experience doing so, piling on in the infield at Canal Park at the end of a 3-0 state final victory over St. Paris Graham.
For the entire Waynedale baseball program, there was some unfinished business this season, a bad taste they wanted to remove following last season’s state semifinal loss.
Consider the taste gone and business finished.
“Ever since last year, we’ve had a bit of a chip on our shoulder and had the goal of getting back here,” head coach Lucas Daugherty said.
The Golden Bears swept past Division V state semifinal foe Coldwater in a tight 2-1 pitcher’s duel contest on June 13, then captured the state crown with a convincing 3-0 victory over Graham Local in the finals, capping off a 30-win season and putting last season’s sour loss behind them in fashion.
Both games were loaded with action, putting fans on all sides on the edge of their seats, but it would be Waynedale’s poise and ability to find a way to push across runs at opportune times while snuffing out the opposition’s efforts that would win out, and it took an entire team effort to do so.
In the semifinal against Coldwater, it was Hudson Barkman who ignited the comeback win. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth with two outs and nobody on, Barkman produced an 11-pitch at-bat against Owen Kunk, who had stymied the Golden Bears up to that point.
“I knew with the guys coming behind me that if I got on, we could spark a two-out rally,” Barkman said. “I just kept fighting off his pitches until I got something I liked. That whole inning it felt so crazy that I didn’t know exactly what was going on after I scored.”
Barkman rifled a single through the box, and Shane Coblentz followed suit, advancing to second on the throw to third. After Tristan Franks drew a walk, Cameron Miller laced a two-run single for the only runs the Bears would score or would need in the win.
“I tried not to think about it too much,” Miller said of his hit. “I tried to picture batting practice and putting a nice, easy swing on the ball. With two strikes I knew I had to protect and put it in play. It felt incredible to see it go through.”
The drama would reach a fever pitch in the seventh when ace Shane Coblentz gave up a one-out single and then pushed the count to 3-0 before head coach Lucas Daugherty made the key decision to go settle his senior down and refocus.
A walk could have turned the momentum, but instead Coblentz stormed back to produce a fly-out, then got a force-out at second to end the game.
“After I walked that kid, I kind of lost focus,” Coblentz said. “I was all over the place, and when coach came out, he reassured me and said I was the best guy for this moment and to go right after him.”
Daugherty said those trips always look good when players produce.
“Something told me to go out and settle Shane down,” Daugherty said. “It was a huge moment. I just gave him a second to calm himself and reminded him to trust this amazing defense he has behind him. He responded so well, and it was a huge turning point. Shane made me look pretty smart.”
In the final 3-0 victory over Graham, new stars would shine.
It started on the mound with sophomore Logan Troyer, who would scatter five hits in shutting down the Falcons. Troyer’s efficiency could be seen in him tossing just 72 pitches in the complete-game effort.
“Nobody ever knows how a pitcher is going to respond, and he’s never been on this big stage before,” Daugherty said. “He’s been really tough this year, and I expected a good game out of him, but he was even better than I expected.”
“It was working today. I just had to come out and be myself, and I knew our defense was going to make plays behind me,” Troyer said. “Once I got the first out in the seventh, I knew it was over.”
Offensively, Josh Yoder spotted the Bears to a 1-0 lead in the third when he smoked a double to plate Jayden Schlabach.
However, once again this game hinged on a monster play many people won’t recall.
With Waynedale clinging to a 1-0 advantage in the top of the fifth inning, Graham got two infield singles to start the frame. With the game in the balance, catcher Tristan Franks threw a laser behind the runner at second and picked him off, and when Troyer whiffed the next two hitters, the possible game-changing inning was over with no harm done.
“Honestly, it was an instinctual thing,” Franks said. “The little things really won us these two games.”
The icing came in the bottom of the sixth when Brayden Steiner doubled to start the inning. Eventually, Barkman’s infield single produced a run, and Waynedale got a huge insurance run off a double from Coblentz.
The Golden Bears then let Troyer finish the deal on the mound, and the boisterous Waynedale supporters joined in on celebrating Waynedale’s third state title in the past four seasons.
“That loss in the semis last year was the biggest factor in why we wanted to get back here,” Franks said. “Last year’s seniors went out with a loss, and we were focused on not having that happen again this time around. Even our younger guys were talking about how they weren’t going to let this group of seniors go out like that, so it was a real motivating factor for us this year.”
What a year it was, with a school-record 30 wins, a third title in four years and the satisfying feeling of hoisting the ultimate prize overhead in front of a grateful group of fans, knowing it took a united effort from everyone on the roster to get it done.