Storylines: A pair of Rams, Braves baseball teams making noise as season winds down
The regular season is nearing the homestretch in high school baseball, with two weeks remaining.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association sectional brackets will be released Sunday evening, and teams will be looking to either win league titles or play at their peak before the postseason. Here is a look at some of the recent highlights.
Ross Rams charging toward first SWBL title
The Ross Rams have found their new league to be very inviting this season. Ross is 13-2 and 5-1 in the Southwestern Division of the Southwestern Buckeye League. Ross is in first place, finishing league play with two games vs. Franklin (7-12, 0-4) on the road Wednesday and at Ross Friday. Bellbrook (4-2, 14-4) and Monroe (2-2, 8-8) play each other on Wednesday and Friday, and then Monroe plays Franklin twice next week.
Ross is looking for its first league title since winning the Southwest Ohio Conference in 2019. Monroe last won a SWBL title in 2015.
Junior Ben Voegele is batting .500 for Ross, with two home runs and 12 RBI, and has 14 steals. Senior Nathan Bray is tied for the league lead in home runs with three and second in RBI with 17.
Ian Busch is 4-0 with a 0.66 ERA, pacing a Rams pitching staff with a team ERA of 1.95.
Badin Rams fighting for seventh straight title
The Badin Rams need to perform to win their seventh straight league championship in the Greater Catholic League-Coed.
Badin is 6-1 in the league, 14-4 overall, with games against McNicholas Wednesday and Friday, and at Carroll Tuesday, May 7.
Badin is battling with Chaminade-Julienne (7-1, 10-6) and Alter (5-2, 7-5). Those teams have two games against each other remaining, and Alter plays one with McNick.
Sophomore Chandler Taylor is batting .404 with three homers and 12 RBI for the Rams. Senior Austin Buckle is hitting .413 with 18 RBI and 11 steals. Junior Kade Bowling has a team-high 20 RBI. Badin has a team ERA of 2.91.
Talawanda Braves make waves in claiming SWOC title
Speaking of the SWOC, Talawanda won its second league title in three seasons after beating Harrison 6-2 Monday in a decisive showdown between the two for the championship. Talawanda finished 8-1 in league play and is 12-7 overall, taking two of three during the season from the Wildcats (7-2, 13-4).
Talawanda posted 11 hits, three from senior Tyler Robinson, who drove in two runs. Junior Micah Daniels pitched six innings for the win.
Talawanda scores nine runs per game, led by Eddie Tanner, who is hitting .404 with 26 RBI. Ryan Wright is batting .415 with 23 runs scored, 13 RBI and 11 steals. The Braves have six regulars batting over .325 and have eight plays with 10 or more RBI.
Daniels is 3-1 on the mound with a 2.84 ERA. Senior A.J. Hainline is 3-0, 1.95 and senior Derek Hacker 3-1, 3.73.
Indian Hill Braves make waves as well in CHL
Indian Hill (14-4) has won 11 of 12 and is in first place in the Cincinnati Hills League (9-0) heading into the homestretch.
The lone loss was still an eye-opener, as the Braves had undefeated Moeller on the ropes April 23. Indian Hill lost a three-run lead in extra innings and fell 7-6 to Moeller in nine innings.
Indian Hill rebounded with two lopsided CHL wins over Finneytown, then two wins over bigger schools Ross, who is 13-2, and Lakota East, who is 12-8 and 8-5 in the Greater Miami Conference. IH also recently beat St. Xavier of the Greater Catholic League-South, 8-2.
In beating Lakota East, Indian Hill pitchers limited Lakota East junior Gianni Lora to a 0-for-3 day. Lora hit two home runs last week and has six for the season, which is the city leader.
Indian Hill is battling Wyoming (9-1, 14-3) for the CHL title. The teams play each other May 6 and 8 to close their league schedules.
Batavia, Bethel-Tate pace the SBAAC
Batavia (7-0, 15-2) and Bethel-Tate (8-0, 11-4) are in first place in their Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference divisions and have a comfortable lead heading into the home stretch.
They have the most dominant pitchers in the league. Bethel senior Cameron Snider is 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 35 innings. Batavia sophomore Brayden Schmittou is 5-0 with a 0.72 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 29 innings. Batavia junior Derek Richardson is also 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA.
Senior Wes Embry leads Batavia with 14 RBI and Schmittou has 13. For Bethel-Tate, Snider has 20 runs scored and 13 steals while batting .304. Junior Jack Ladd hits .350 with 18 RBI.
The teams do not play each other this season.
Moeller, Mason face high-ranked teams this weekend
Moeller, the top-ranked team in the Division I state coaches poll, is 19-0 as it wraps up league play with La Salle this week. The Crusaders play Olentangy Orange Saturday, who is ranked sixth in the DI state poll. That game is in Defiance as part of Prep Baseball Report showcase event.
Second-ranked Mason, 18-3 overall, has already won the Greater Miami Conference championship, its sixth in a row. The Comets also go to Defiance Saturday, playing Grove City, ranked fifth in the DI state poll.
ECC title will go down to the wire
Kings and Loveland are tied for first place in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference at 11-4. Turpin is one loss behind at 9-5.
Kings hosts Walnut Hills (7-8, 8-11) Wednesday, then plays Turpin Friday and Monday in a showdown to end the league regular season. Loveland, who shut out Kings in both meetings this season, plays last-place Winton Woods (0-15, 1-17) then plays Milford (9-6, 10-11) Friday and Monday. Milford and Anderson (8-6, 10-8) need to win out to have a chance.
Ryle Raiders on a roll
Ryle has won 12 of 13 and is 17-7, three wins behind Covington Catholic (20-2), a team that has been hot all season.
The Raiders are led by sophomore A.J. Curry, putting up video game numbers by batting .671 with 49 hits in 73 at-bats. Curry, who moved to Union from San Diego, has three home runs, 27 RBI, 27 runs scored and 12 steals.
Ryle has a team 2.96 ERA led by Sam Eppley and Caleb Mann, who have four wins, and Dylan McIntyre, who is 3-0. Eppley has a 1.27 ERA and McIntyre 1.88.
Ryle and CovCath met April 5 in Park Hills, with the Colonels winning 3-1. The teams play again in Union May 15 to close the regular season.
CovCath is looking for its first regional title since 2005.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How do Southwest Ohio baseball league races look in the homestretch?
