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The Big Walnut baseball team has used last year’s disappointing finish as motivation all spring. Now, the Golden Eagles have a chance to avenge the loss that ended their 2025 season.
Big Walnut will face New Albany in a Division II regional final at 5 p.m. June 4 at Grove City, the site where the Golden Eagles lost 6-0 to New Albany in a 2025 regional final.
Big Walnut (19-7) earned a return trip to the game by beating Oregon Clay 2-1 in eight innings in a semifinal June 3 at Grove City.
New Albany held on to beat Westerville South 2-1 in the other semifinal.
“Momentum is the key,” Big Walnut coach Mike Stafford said. “Leadership, we have an older group. These guys will be ready to play. They can smell it. They were here last year at the same time and we lost. All they’ve been talking about is we want to get back to this point, and I know they’ll be ready.”
Tied at 1 in the top of the eighth, Big Walnut’s Owen Horba led off with a single. After Nick Benjamin’s sacrifice bunt, Horba raced home from second when Evan Couser’s drag bunt rolled past pitcher Bryce Besgrove.
Braylon Robertson earned the win in relief, pitching four scoreless innings while allowing one hit and striking out six. Brady Taylor went the first four innings, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Big Walnut tied the game when Couser scored on Nolan Buirley’s squeeze bunt.
Stafford said timely hitting, pitching and defense define his team.
“That’s what we preach,” he said. “We’re a small community but really tight, and we believe in a few things that we work on every day in practice. That’s small ball and find a way to score runs. The deeper you get into the tournament, the more important that stuff becomes. That’s what our DNA has been all year.”
The Eagles (23-7) scored twice in the bottom of the first on a Carson Skinner single and then used solid pitching and defense to hold off South.
New Albany ace Bryson Gittins went the first six innings to earn the win, allowing three hits while striking out five and walking two. He pitched out of a sixth-inning jam and then gave way to freshman Jay Smith, who pitched a scoreless seventh for the save.
Left fielder Connor Bahr made a diving catch in foul territory to help end the threat in the sixth.
“Bryson Gittins has pitched phenomenal all year,” New Albany coach Mike Sandman said. “He did it again today. He put us on his back when we needed him and the young freshman came in, and he really grew up in a big way for us today to close it down.”
South (18-12) cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fifth on Jacoby Pinion’s RBI infield single.
Chase Crawford went the distance for South, scattering five hits and striking out one.
“We always say you want to be playing your best baseball at the right time, and we knew South was playing its best baseball as well,” Sandman said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight.”
New Albany now turns its attention to Big Walnut.
“We know we’re going to have to play our best baseball to have a chance to move on, but we’re excited for the challenge,” Sandman said.
This story will be updated.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at [email protected] and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Big Walnut, New Albany to play for OHSAA baseball regional title
Continue reading...
Big Walnut will face New Albany in a Division II regional final at 5 p.m. June 4 at Grove City, the site where the Golden Eagles lost 6-0 to New Albany in a 2025 regional final.
Big Walnut (19-7) earned a return trip to the game by beating Oregon Clay 2-1 in eight innings in a semifinal June 3 at Grove City.
New Albany held on to beat Westerville South 2-1 in the other semifinal.
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“Momentum is the key,” Big Walnut coach Mike Stafford said. “Leadership, we have an older group. These guys will be ready to play. They can smell it. They were here last year at the same time and we lost. All they’ve been talking about is we want to get back to this point, and I know they’ll be ready.”
Tied at 1 in the top of the eighth, Big Walnut’s Owen Horba led off with a single. After Nick Benjamin’s sacrifice bunt, Horba raced home from second when Evan Couser’s drag bunt rolled past pitcher Bryce Besgrove.
Braylon Robertson earned the win in relief, pitching four scoreless innings while allowing one hit and striking out six. Brady Taylor went the first four innings, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
You must be registered for see images
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Big Walnut tied the game when Couser scored on Nolan Buirley’s squeeze bunt.
Stafford said timely hitting, pitching and defense define his team.
“That’s what we preach,” he said. “We’re a small community but really tight, and we believe in a few things that we work on every day in practice. That’s small ball and find a way to score runs. The deeper you get into the tournament, the more important that stuff becomes. That’s what our DNA has been all year.”
You must be registered for see images attach
New Albany 2, Westerville South 1
The Eagles (23-7) scored twice in the bottom of the first on a Carson Skinner single and then used solid pitching and defense to hold off South.
New Albany ace Bryson Gittins went the first six innings to earn the win, allowing three hits while striking out five and walking two. He pitched out of a sixth-inning jam and then gave way to freshman Jay Smith, who pitched a scoreless seventh for the save.
Left fielder Connor Bahr made a diving catch in foul territory to help end the threat in the sixth.
“Bryson Gittins has pitched phenomenal all year,” New Albany coach Mike Sandman said. “He did it again today. He put us on his back when we needed him and the young freshman came in, and he really grew up in a big way for us today to close it down.”
You must be registered for see images attach
South (18-12) cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fifth on Jacoby Pinion’s RBI infield single.
Chase Crawford went the distance for South, scattering five hits and striking out one.
“We always say you want to be playing your best baseball at the right time, and we knew South was playing its best baseball as well,” Sandman said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight.”
New Albany now turns its attention to Big Walnut.
“We know we’re going to have to play our best baseball to have a chance to move on, but we’re excited for the challenge,” Sandman said.
This story will be updated.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at [email protected] and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Big Walnut, New Albany to play for OHSAA baseball regional title
Continue reading...
