First- and second-round baseball sectional games will be hosted by higher-seeded squads, beginning Monday, May 13. The tournament shifts to neutral sites beginning in the sectional finals.
The Cougars (16-5) are going for a fourth straight district appearance. Last year, Kenton Ridge lost in a district final for the third straight year, falling to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy 9-5.
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A fourth straight district trip won’t be easy in the seven-team sectional made up entirely of Central Buckeye Conference teams, said Cougars coach Aaron Shaffer.
“The bottom line is that we’re going to have to beat some good teams to get out,” Shaffer said. “We have a tough sectional. It’s almost a CBC tournament. There’s not a lot of places to go. You know each other well.”
The Cougars will host No. 7 Urbana (1-20) at 5 p.m. May 14. The winner will play third-seeded Shawnee (16-6) on Thursday, May 16. The Cougars swept the season series against the Braves, but aren’t taking anything for granted, said Shaffer.
“It’s going to be tough,” Shaffer said. “You’re going to have to win close games, move runners, play good defense and throw strikes. What I like about us all year is that our pitching and defense has been solid. We’ve been hit-or-miss at the plate, but our pitching and defense has been really, really good.”
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Fourth-seeded Northwestern (9-14) will host No. 5 Graham (9-11) at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 14. The winner will travel to Ben Logan at 5 p.m. May 16. The Raiders beat Kenton Ridge 4-0 on April 30, earning the No. 1 seed.
The sectional final is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 21 at Urbana. The winner will play a district final against a Cincinnati opponent on May 23.
Division I
Springfield is the No. 15 seed in the D-I Dayton 2 sectional and travels to Piqua (9-11) at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 14. The winner will travel to third-seeded Springboro on May 16. Second-seeded Beavercreek (16-4) is on the other side of the bracket.
Tecumseh (12-9) is the No. 7 seed in the Dayton 1 sectional and will host Sidney (4-14) on Tuesday, May 14. The winner will play No. 6 Miamisburg on May 16. The winner of top-seeded Centerville (17-5), No. 17 Stebbins and No. 18 Belmont awaits on the other side of the bracket.
Division III
Greenon earned the No. 6 seed and will host a Dayton 3 second-round game at 5 p.m. May 15 against the winner of No. 15 Miami East (9-10) and No. 16 West Liberty-Salem (8-12). The winner of those three teams will play the winner of second-seeded Waynesville (13-5) and No. 23 Bethel (1-14).
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Eleventh-seeded Northeastern will host No. 17 Northridge (8-13) at 5 p.m. Monday, May 13. The winner will travel to third-seeded Anna (14-3) on May 15.
Division IV
Mechanicsburg (16-8) earned the No. 2 seed in the Dayton 4 sectional and will host the winner of No. 7 Fairlawn and No. 9 Jackson Center at 5 p.m. May 15 in a second-round game. With a win, Mechanicsburg likely will face the winner of three of the other top seeds — No. 3 Lehman Catholic, No. 4 Triad and No. 5 Mississinawa Valley.
In the Dayton 1 sectional, No. 9 Catholic Central (5-15) will host No. 12 Legacy Christian (1-13) at 5 p.m. May 13. The winner will travel to No. 2 seed Newton (15-3) on May 15.
No. 8 Emmanuel Christian will travel to fourth-seeded Franklin-Monroe at 5 p.m. May 13.
In the Dayton 2 sectional, No. 10 Southeastern (5-14) will host No. 13 Yellow Springs (2-13) at 5 p.m. May 13. The winner will play top-seeded Tri-County North on May 15.
All sectional brackets have been posted at OHSAA.org/SWDAB.
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