Back-to-back Bears — Waynedale repeats as state baseball champ
Waynedale seniors Jaiden Barnes, left, Timmy Short, Connor Gatti, Evan Lemon, Trey Barkman, Gavin Spitler and Dylan Raber pose with the trophy they earned for winning the Div. III state baseball championship June 10 in Akron.
The 2023 Waynedale baseball team will be remembered as being unmatched in Div. III – and in area history.
The Golden Bears dominated Cadiz Harrison Central in a dominant 10-1 win to capture the Div. III state championship in front of 5,607 fans at Canal Park in Akron on June 10.
Waynedale (24-9) became the first team in area history to repeat as state baseball champs and just the 17th school (18th squad) in Ohio to accomplish the feat.
Hiland crushed Russia 14-4 earlier in the day to win the Div. IV title, giving the Wayne-Holmes area half the state titles on an epic day for local baseball.
The Bears set the tone early in their title game with a six-run second inning to go up 7-0. Waynedale outscored state opponents Harrison Central (20-13) and Ottawa Hills (22-11) by a combined 16-3 margin after routing their regional foes by a 22-3 count.
“It's definitely unbelievable,” Waynedale coach Lucas Daugherty said. “It still feels a little bit surreal, I think for all of us.
“As a coaching staff and, I think the players take after it as well, we really tried to take it one game at a time so then when we get here and it's the end it takes a minute to settle in.”
The Bears boasted the same two aces for the second season in a row and they were outstanding in the Final Four both years.
One day after senior right-hander Trey Barkman shut down Ottawa Hills, junior Otto Solorzano notched his second title game win after limiting the Harrison Central Huskies to one run and six hits in six innings.
Solorzano, a lefthander who was throwing in the low 80s, recorded seven strikeouts and just one walk. Senior Timmy Short struck out two in a 1-2-3 seventh to close out the win.
“It's really exciting to be back here and win it again,” said Solorzano, who was born in Nicaragua and adopted by his aunt and uncle, Nixson and Rhonda Jarquin of Mount Eaton. His aunt helped him answer postgame questions as an interpreter. “It's an honor to be able to play with them.
“Last year, I was more nervous because it was the first time. This year, I definitely felt calmer. We already knew how things were here.”
Senior shortstop Dylan Raber had a Div. III title-game tying four base hits to lead a 15-hit attack off of three Huskies’ pitchers.
Raber was 4 for 5 with three runs scored out of his leadoff spot. He was the first player to have four hits in the Div. III title game since Canton Central Catholic’s Ryan Pack in 2011.
“That’s incredible. It’s awesome,” said Raber, when told his four hits tied a state record.
What felt much better was bringing back-to-back titles home to Apple Creek. There were several thousand fans behind Waynedale’s third base dugout, including dozens of youth players wearing their jerseys and dreaming of one day playing for the Golden Bears.
“Our community has shown us really great support here, so being able to bring (a repeat championship) to our community is the best thing that we can do,” Raber said. “I’m really, really proud of these guys and the way that they played to bring it to this family we have at Waynedale.”
Ripping two hits each were senior Connor Gatti, along with sophomores Tristan Franks, Jayden Schlabach and Shane Coblentz. Franks, Gatti, Short and Barkman had two RBI each.
Waynedale continued its torrid late-season hitting throughout the entire lineup in the second, sending 11 batters to the plate in the six-run uprising.
After losing pitcher Tucker Snyder (1.1 IP, 6 R, 5 H, 1 K, 3 BB) retired No. 7 hitter Gavin Spitler on a groundout, eight straight Bears reached base.
Shane Coblentz doubled to deep left-center, Tate Venables walked and Raber singled through the left side to load the bases.
With the table fully set, the Bears then enjoyed a scoring smorgasbord. Franks drilled a two-run single in the hole between first and second and Gatti doubled in two more with a blast down the left-field line that rattled into the corner.
That ended the night for Snyder, but Short greeted reliever Kaden Jurosko with a towering double to deep left-center to make it 6-0. After Barkman singled, Jayden Schlabach singled in Short for the final run of the frame and a 7-0 lead.
Daugherty has been asked numerous times by many people to explain how the Bears finished the season hitting so well throughout the lineup.
“It took a little while for us to get it figured out at the plate this year, but once we did I think the confidence spread throughout the team," Daugherty said. “Hitting can be contagious and maybe after you get to a pitcher a little bit then it becomes easier to hit.”
Waynedale jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning when Raber led off with a single to left and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice by Barkman. The Bears also added single tallies in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
The Bears’ defense was also spectacular.
Franks hustled from his catcher spot down the first base line on a ground ball and was in perfect position to back up an errant throw in the fourth inning. He grabbed the ball and threw out Snyder trying to advance to second base.
Spitler, who tripled off the right-field chalk and scored in the fifth, made a diving play of a hard grounder at first in the second. He dove to the base just in time to force out Jake Mazdia.
Coblentz caught a grounder that deflected off of second base and rocketed a throw to first for the out, while Raber and Short also made nifty plays at shortstop and third base, respectively.
The Bears were the first repeat state qualifier from Wayne County since legendary Northwestern coach Roy Bates led the 1958-59 Northwestern Huskies, which featured future Cy Young winner Dean Chance. That group lost in the 1958 class A semifinals, but won the 1959 title.
Daugherty was truly humbled when asked what it felt like to lead a team that reached such rare air in area and state history.
“I'm just thankful to coach this group,” said Daugherty, who was a standout pitcher at Mount Vernon Nazarene University before graduating in 2016. He worked as an assistant at Malone and Waynedale before being named head coach in 2020. “We have a great coaching staff beyond me and really it's all the players. They just are tough and really embrace taking it one game at a time.
“I think that's what you have to do in order to string something together and accomplish something like this two times in a row.”
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com.