LANCASTER — Maverick Scholvin didn’t waste time in the bottom of the seventh.
Scholvin singled in the game-winning run on the first pitch he saw as Orange knocked off Olentangy 3-2 in the nightcap of a Division I regional semifinal doubleheader at Beavers Field.
The Pioneers loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh. Scholvin turned on the first pitch he saw from Olentangy ace Rocco Bucci and laced it just inside the third base line, plating Zane Konczak with the game-winner.
“I was just looking for a pitch I could hit, do a job with,” said Scholvin, who singled and scored the game’s first run in Orange’s two-run fourth. “I was just looking for something I could barrel and get the job done.”
Back-And-Forth
Scholvin’s seventh-inning heroics put the exclamation point on a seesaw battle.
Orange took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an RBI single by Cole Luling and a sacrifice bunt by Jackson Hoyt.
Olentangy tied it at 2-2 in the top of the fifth. Rocco Bucci knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly and Kyle Trautman scored on a wild pitch.
The Braves had a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh when Kyle Trautman doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on Ty Gebhardt’s sacrifice bunt.
Orange reliever Reid Hemrick got out of the jam thanks to a botched suicide bunt attempt and a strikeout.
“Reid is a special human,” Orange coach Tom Marker said. “We didn’t want to have to go to him. He only threw 30 pitches (in two innings of work) so he’ll be fine.”
Solid Starters
Hemrick took over for starter Zach Wright to begin the sixth. Wright gave up five hits in five innings while walking three and striking out four.
“Z gave us a really good outing,” Marker said. “Again, it’s a team effort. We knew if we could get it to Reid late and give us a chance we could get this thing done.”
Bucci went the distance for the Braves. He surrendered six hits while striking out four and walking six.
Memorable Run
Olentangy lost 12 players off last year’s state championship team and still won the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division championship and a district title.
“Every year we talk about … can we reach our full potential? I don’t know what that is,” Olentangy coach Ryan Lucas said. “Last year was a state championship and one year it’s win 14 games. This group reached their full potential.
“We were one play away from knocking out a team that I think is the best team in the state of Ohio.”
