A look at the sectional paths for Southwest Ohio high school baseball teams
The Major League Baseball season is still in its early stages, but the high school regular season is ending.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association postseason brackets are out. Tournaments begin May 13, with Southwest Ohio teams hoping to get to their world series in Akron June 7-9.
Here is a look at the local brackets. All games are listed in bracket order.
More: Undefeated Moeller leads DI in SWOBCA poll while Badin, Cincinnati Christian small schools
Division I
In all the brackets, first-round games are May 14, second-round games May 16, district semifinals May 21 and district finals May 23.
South 1
Mason vs. Withrow/Walnut Hills, Winton Woods vs. St. Xavier, Western Hills vs. La Salle.
Mason, the No. 2 team in the state coaches poll to Moeller, is the No. 2 seed in the South bracket to the Crusaders. The Comets probably have the second-best pitching staff in the district to the Crusaders as well, led by seniors Jacob Hanley (5-0, 2.18 ERA), Bryce Brannon (5-1, 2.97), Michael Bilo (2-2, 1.48) and junior Ben Hanley (2-0, 1.12).
Greater Catholic League-South foes La Salle (9-11) and St. Xavier (6-17) are the 18th and 22nd seeds, respectively and one of them is likely to meet Mason in the district semi. Both teams had rough seasons overall, but a GCL-South team is always a tough out in the postseason.
La Salle won two of three against St. X during the season. Senior Dylan Kaiser (1-3, 2.40) pitched well for the Lancers in two of the games. The Lancers only average 4.5 runs per game and bat .259 for the season. The Bombers have similar offensive struggles.
South 2
Moeller vs. Goshen/Northwest, Colerain vs. Hamilton, Middletown vs. Anderson.
Moeller, 23-0 and the defending state champion, is the heavy favorite in this bracket. The Crusaders average 8.4 runs per game and have a team ERA of 1.94. Hamilton, 12-11 and 10-8 in the Greater Miami Conference, is the 14th seed. Anderson, 13-9 and 11-7 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, is the 13th seed.
South 3
Turpin vs. Princeton/Harrison, Lakota East vs. Edgewood/Talawanda.
Turpin (17-9) is the No. 6 seed and Lakota East (15-8) the No. 8 seed. A sectional final between them would feature three of the city’s top home-run hitters. Lakota East junior shortstop Gianni Lora has six homers and 23 RBI, and batting .350. Turpin senior Ty Covington is hitting .375 with seven homers and 18 RBI, and senior Luke Jilek is batting .308 with five homers and 20 RBI.
Turpin has two of the ECC’s top pitchers in Matt Cnota (4-0, 1.33) and Connor Gullett (4-1, 2.06). East’s top ace is senior Dean Brown (4-1, 4.01).
Talawanda (12-10) is the No. 11 seed and won the Southwest Ohio Conference over No. 12 seed Harrison (13-5).
South 4
Loveland vs. Western Brown/Fairfield, Lakota West vs. Little Miami/Ross.
Loveland, the No. 4 seed and 16-8, is leading the ECC at 13-4. The Tigers have a deep pitching staff and a team ERA of 2.41. Fairfield is the No. 16 seed at 10-14. Senior Jacob Boland is one of the city’s top pitchers with a 1.72, ERA but only has a 2-5 record as the Indians have struggled offensively and he has lost three 1-0 decisions.
Lakota West is the No. 10 seed, and is 13-11. Ross is ninth and 16-4 overall after winning the Southwestern Buckeye-Southwestern title. West has had a challenging non-league schedule and is led by Adrian Smith on offense with a .333 average, 19 runs scored and 24 RBI. West has a team ERA of 3.21.
South 5
Elder vs. West Clermont/Oak Hills, Kings vs. Sycamore/Milford.
Elder, 15-7 overall, is the No. 3 seed, with three of its losses to Moeller.
Oak Hills (13-9), the No. 7 seed, is 13-9 and third in the GMC at 12-6. The Highlanders played Elder April 6, losing 9-4, but they didn’t use their top pitchers: seniors Trenton Murphy (4-3, 1.50) or Aiden Thomas (4-2, 2.13). Thomas pitched well against Mason for one of his defeats.
Kings (17-7) is the No. 5 seed and 13-5 in the ECC. League foe Milford (11-13, 9-8) is the No. 15 seed. Kings won two close decisions, 4-1 and 2-1, over the Eagles.
Kings averages four steals per game, led by Drew Burdine with 26. The Knights have a 1.56 team ERA led by seniors Ryan Gulbransen (2-2, 0.76) and Anthony Robinson (4-1, 2.41) and junior Matthew Fortner (4-0, 0.25). Fortner and Robinson pitched against the Eagles this season.
North
Springboro (20-2) is the No. 1 seed in the North bracket. The Panthers own wins over Badin and St. Xavier. They average 8.5 runs per game led by senior Zack Gardner, who is batting .493 with 36 RBI. Seniors Josh Booth (6-0, 1.87), Luke Burroughs (5-0. 1.79) and Jackson Saylor (4-0, 0.25) lead the pitching staff.
No. 6 Centerville (10-11) is the next-highest seed in its North 1 bracket, followed by No. 9 Monroe (11-9).
Lebanon (7-16) is the No. 12 seed and has to beat No. 7 seed Piqua (13-9) and No. 4 Beavercreek (14-7) to advance to the district semifinals in the North 2 draw.
Division II
The full brackets are here. Like Division I, first-round games are May 14, second-round games May 16, district semifinals May 21 and district finals May 23.
South 1
Reading vs. Batavia, Roger Bacon vs. New Richmond, McNicholas vs. Blancester, Hughes vs. Indian Hill.
Indian Hill is the No. 2 seed and Batavia No. 3. Hughes is 13th, and other five teams are seeds 6-10.
IH and Batavia could have one of the best sectional finals in the district but have to get through a tough bracket first.
Indian Hill is 17-4 and leading the Cincinnati Hills League at 12-0 with two games against second-place Wyoming (17-4, 11-1) still to come. The Braves hit .341 as a team and average nearly 10 runs per game. The Braves have six players with 15 or more RBI, led by Dylan Hartman with 27. Senior Nick Rinala (5-0, 1.44), the reigning CHL player of the year, is on his way to a repeat. He leads a deep pitching staff with a team ERA of 2.53. He is also hitting .473 with 36 runs scored, 19 RBI and 32 steals.
Batavia, 19-3, won the Southern Buckeye-American title. The Bulldogs have a team ERA of 1.98 led by junior Derek Richardson (6-0, 1.22) and Brayden Schmittou (6-0, 0.78). Schmittou is one of the team’s top hitters. Senior Wes Embry bats .362 with 16 RBI.
Seventh seed New Richmond (13-9) handed Batavia its only league loss, 1-0 on April 1, behind Connor Clayton (4-1, 1.30) who threw four no-hit innings against the Bulldogs. Carson Kuhlman is 4-2, 0.48. Ninth seed McNicholas (8-15) has had a tough schedule but defeated Badin for the first time in eight years on May 2. Sixth seed Blanchester (18-4) averages 10 runs per game. Senior Austin Dick is 6-1, 3.00 on the mound and is hitting .470 with 27 RBI and 29 steals. Junior Sammy Roush is 5-2, 2.54 and bat .485 with 25 steals. Senior Drey Dees has 28 RBI and is batting .460.
South 2
Badin vs. Mt. Healthy/Shroder, Taylor vs. CHCA, Norwood vs. Wyoming
Badin, 17-5 and a regional finalist last year, is the top seed. Wyoming, the four seed is 17-4. Senior Aiden Melvin is hitting .382 with four homers and 34 RBI. Charlie Steed is 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA.
Fifth seed CHCA is 13-5 led by senior Jeffrey Levin, who is 4-0, 0.25 on the mound and batting .327. The Eagles, a regional semifinalist last year, have recent wins over bigger schools Fairfield and St. Xavier, and a 3-2 loss to Elder.
North
Fenwick (7-11) is the 14th seed and plays 15th seed Tecumseh May 14. The winner faces No. 7 seed Bellefontaine (12-9) in the second round, with top seed Kenton Ridge (16-5) likely awaiting in the sectional final.
No. 13 Franklin and No. 17 Wilmington play in the first round of the North 2 bracket, with the winner facing No. 4 Tippecanoe.
Clinton-Massie (12-10) is the No. 9 seed and faces No. 10 seed Tipp City Bethel (15-6) May 16. The winner likely faces No. 3 seed Chaminade-Julienne (13-6) in the sectional final.
Division III
The full brackets are here. First-round games are May 13, second-round games May 15, district semifinals May 20 and district finals May 22.
South 1
Miami Valley Christian Academy vs. Gamble Montessori/Summit Country Day, East Clinton vs. Seven Hills, North College Hill vs. Carlisle.
MVCA, 17-3 overall is the No. 2 seed. Carlisle is fourth, Summit sixth and Seven Hills eighth. MVCA and Seven Hills (11-6) split their two meetings and finished tied at 9-1 in the Miami Valley Conference-Gray. MVCA did not play Summit, but the Stingers fell 17-3 to the Silver Knights from the bigger-school MVC-Scarlet.
Senior Ethan Hyrne leads MVCA by batting .456 with 33 RBI. Senior Jack Durand hit .419 with 28 runs scored and 23 RBI, and junior Gavin French hits .531 with 20 RBI. Those three were also key players on MVCA’s record-setting basketball team this past season.
For Seven Hills, David Haas hits .417 with a team-high 18 RBI, and is 4-3, 4.14 on the mound. Senior Nick Cohen is 4-0, 0.51.
South 2
Cincinnati Christian vs. Deer Park/Clark Montessori, Purcell Marian vs. Mariemont, Clermont Northeastern vs. Madeira.
Cin. Christian (18-3) is the top seed after winning the MVC-Scarlet. The Cougars were 15-11 last year and reached a sectional final.
Madeira (11-12) is the seven seed and Mariemont (8-9) the nine. The Cougars have two lopsided wins over Madeira. Madeira and Mariemont split their two games.
South 3
Bethel-Tate vs. Georgetown/Finneytown, Cincinnati Country Day vs. Middletown Madison/Williamsburg.
Bethel (14-4) is the three seed and CCD (12-6) the five.
Bethel is led by senior Cameron Snider, who is 6-1 with an 0.83 ERA. He is hitting .333 with 14 RBI and 14 steals.
Senior Parker Corbin leads CCD with a .431 average and 25 RBI.
North
Waynesville (7-9) is the No. 11 seed, playing league foe Valley View, the 13th seed. The winner faces fourth seed Brookville (13-7). Waynesville was a regional semifinalist last year.
Division IV
The full brackets are here: As in Division III, first-round games are May 13, second-round games May 15, district semifinals May 20 and district finals May 22.
Riverview East vs. St. Bernard, Spencer vs. Felicity-Franklin, New Miami vs. Fayetteville-Perry, Ripley vs. Lockland.
St. Bernard is the top seed in the South bracket and has the most wins in the bracket with a 7-7 record. The Titans are led by Tony Stier with a 4-0 record and 2.15 ERA.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A look at the brackets for Southwest Ohio high school baseball teams
