The No. 5 New Philadelphia Quakers made it to the Division II District Finals with a pair of District 2 Central 1 tournament wins, but were topped by No. 1 St. Clairsville, 5-1, on May 22.
The Quakers had six hits in the game, led by Gaven Blake’s 2-for-3 day. Braylon McBride was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, and Owen Courtney went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Sam Rufenacht picked up the loss, allowing five runs but only three earned over five and two-thirds innings. He gave up only four hits, but walked six, while striking out six batters.
The Quakers got on the board first when Courtney nailed an RBI double to left field, but St. Clairsville shut them down the rest of the way and scored five unanswered runs to take the title.
Two days earlier, the Quakers had a lopsided 10-1 upset win over No. 3 Steubenville in the district semifinals. Noah Bollon had four RBIs and went 3-for-3 with a double to lead the high powered New Philadelphia offense. Mason Caterina had a double and scored three times, while Caleb Crowthers also doubled, and went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Courtney knocked in a pair of runs and went 1-for-4.
Courtney struck out seven in the complete game win, where he gave up seven hits, three walks and an unearned run.
In the sectional finals of the tournament, on May 14, the Quakers beat No. 11 East Liverpool 10-0. Bollon went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Courtney doubled and knocked in two runs, while going 2-for-4. Carson Long was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
Courtney got the win, allowing only two hits and two walks, while striking out seven over five and one-third innings.
The Quakers ended their season at 15-8.
