Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
ATHENS — Braun Doak was ready for his moment.
Before the tournament started, Waterford’s senior hurler was told by his coaching staff that he would get the start on the bump if his Wildcats were to make a district final.
And, even better with the way things turned out, he was throwing against a conference rival that he knew all too well. That only made things sweeter.
Doak tossed a gem of a complete game in the biggest moment of the team’s season. And, he allowed his defense to work, surrendering just six hits and two earned runs, powering his Wildcats to an 8-3 victory over Eastern Meigs on Tuesday in a Division VII district championship.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“This game was marked on the calendar. After I got to the seventh inning, and I needed three more, it’s like, ‘Wow, this is really gonna happen.’ It was surreal,” Doak said. “I’m not really a big strikeout guy. I hope they just hit weak contact, and it happened today. So that’s pretty nice.”
The victory marked the team’s 20th this season and, more importantly, it secured the Wildcats’ first district championship since 2017.
“We lost 2-1 last year in the district final, so this is 10 months of having that sour taste. We couldn’t just wait anymore. We had to create the opportunity with how we play baseball. We made it there, and we finally got over that,” Waterford coach Chris Schmitt said. “We competed with them for the first game. The second game, they got us pretty good. We had to make some adjustments. We prepped the guys really well. We went with a game plan, and we’re a different team than we were in March. We were ready for it.”
Doak’s arm wasn’t his only weapon, though.
He did damage at the dish as well, making the most of his opportunities early and often before finishing 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
“If they threw me anything down the middle, I just did my best to punish them,” Doak said. “Luckily, the two pitches I got, I hit them to the outfield and drove in four runs. More importantly, it helped give me the confidence on the mound to do my job.”
And he got the party started.
With a pair of runners on in the top of the third, he supplied just enough contact to bloop a hit into shallow center field for a two-run single, putting Waterford (20-8) ahead 2-0.
Early momentum continued in the next inning as the Eagles (17-11) committed a fielding error to score a Wildcat runner, which was followed by an RBI single from Kam Johnson to extend the lead to 4-0.
And they weren’t finished yet.
Avery Pottmeyer added an RBI single before Doak stepped back to the dish with a pair on. He delivered another two-run single that pushed the lead to 7-0.
“We talk about momentum all the time,” Schmitt said. “Baseball is a game of momentum. The bottom of the order did it for us. They started hitting the baseball, getting on, and our top of the order did what they’re supposed to. It all just came together at the right moment.”
Eastern Meigs had an answer in the bottom half as Hunter Needs roped an RBI single into left field before Blaise Gilmore smacked a two-run double to bring the Eagles to within 7-3.
However, the day ultimately belonged to Doak and the Wildcats.
His defense routinely made plays behind him and Henry Huffman added an RBI single in the sixth to provide the cherry on top.
“We had a rough start to the season, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. I didn’t think we’d be here,” Doak said. “But, stuff started clicking, everyone started coming together, and us four seniors realized, ‘This is it.’ There’s no more baseball with the Waterford jersey on afterwards. We better make the most of it. And over the last few weeks, everything’s clicking and everyone’s having fun.”
Statistically, following Doak’s final numbers, Pottmeyer finished 2-for-4 with an RBI while Johnson and Huffman each had a hit and an RBI.
For Eastern Meigs, Gilmore finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Needs was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Waterford advances to a Division VI regional semifinal at 5 p.m. on Wednesday against Hiland, who beat Beverly Fort Frye to advance.
That game will be played at Lancaster’s Beavers Field.
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