Avram Holden of the Mt. Orab Diamondbacks watches the flight of the ball during an at-bat June 29, 2023, in an East Region Knothole Baseball Class B Senior playoff game at Finley Ray Park in Milford.
Mt. Orab falls, but not without a fight, in East Region Knothole playoff game
Mt. Orab Diamondbacks relief pitcher Wesley Yaczik unleashes a pitch during an East Region Knothole Baseball Class B Senior playoff game June 29, 2023, at Finley Ray Park in Milford.
Aiden Cremer of the Mt. Orab Diamondbacks bounces the ball in front of the plate during an at-bat in an East Region Knothole Baseball Class B Senior playoff game June 29, 2023, at Finley Ray Park in Milford.
With the ball coming in just off his right hip, Wesley Yaczik, right, of the Mt. Orab Diamondbacks beats the throw to third base during an East Region Knothole Baseball Class B Senior playoff game June 29, 2023, at Finley Ray Park in Milford.
Mt. Orab Diamondbacks starter pitcher Deon Bradford throws against the Amelia Barons during an East Region Knothole Baseball Class B Senior playoff game June 29, 2023, at Finley Ray Park in Milford.
It wasn’t necessarily like looking into a crystal ball, for those who put any stock in that sort of thing.
But besides being an East Region Knothole Baseball playoff game, for those who were looking, this contest June 29 did offer at least a glimpse into what could be the future of Western Brown High School baseball. Afterall, every player but one on this 13- to 14-year-old Mt. Orab Diamondbacks team is likely headed to Western Brown High in the next year or two or three.
Western Brown won the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference American Division baseball title this past season. The Broncos will return a handful of their top players next season, including senior pitchers and twin brothers Abe and Ben Crall. The team will lean heavily on the Cralls in 2024. But after next year, or maybe the year after, it could be Wesley Yaczik or Rylan Ziegler or Deon Bradford or any of the other players, really, on this Mt. Orab team.
The Diamondbacks won their regular-season league title with an impressive 15-3 record. And despite losing their Class B Senior (ages 13-14) playoff game June 29, the Diamondbacks likely would have made their Broncos counterparts proud.
The Diamondbacks fought hard throughout the game, rallying time after time before falling, 5-4, to the Amelia Barons at Finley Ray Park in Milford in the second round of the playoffs.
“We started off a little rough,” Diamondbacks coach April Bradford said. “We were making contact, just unfortunate that the hits went straight to (Amelia’s defensive) players – arms will beat out legs nine times out of 10.
“We rallied back at the bottom of the fifth to take the lead,” she added. “In the top of the sixth, we had a couple errors that cost us a couple runs and we just couldn’t pull off the win.”
As for highlights, “The triple, hit by Rylan Ziegler in the bottom of the fourth, bringing the score to 3-2 – we were down by one – followed by Deon Bradford’s single to bring Rylan home, tying the game,” the coach said. “Wesley Yaczik pitched a great game and hit a triple as well.”
From start to finish, the tournament will run for nearly three weeks, with the championship scheduled July 11 (the Diamondbacks were scheduled to play a loser’s-bracket game in the double-elimination tournament in early July). For more on East Region Knothole Baseball, go to https://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=cckb.
