'Everyone got a good show today': Cambridge baseball holds off New Philadelphia in regional

CADIZ — New Philadelphia’s Carter Vandall and Cambridge’s Jake Valentine, two of the best pitchers in Eastern Ohio, matched talents when the Quakers and Bobcats met in a Division II regional semifinal baseball game at Harrison Central’s Mazeroski Field on Thursday afternoon.

In a game in which hits were hard to come by, it was Cambridge advancing to the regional final with a 3-2 win. The Bobcats tallied three runs in the first two innings and held off a determined Quaker comeback.

“It was anybody’s game,” reflected New Philadelphia head baseball coach Tyler Weisel. “We just came up short, but this is a great group of kids and our senior leadership was absolutely unreal and through the roof.”

“Did we expect them (the Quakers) to hit the ball, absolutely,” said Cambridge head coach Jamaal Lowery. “They’re here for a reason. That’s a good team over there. Coach Weisel does a good job. We came in as head coaches together. I said before the game, 'Let’s put on a show,' and everyone got a good show today.”

The Bobcats (17-4) will meet Washington Courthouse in a regional final at 5 p.m. Friday, at Ohio Dominican University’s Panther Field. Washington Courthouse advanced Thursday with a 4-2 win over Bloom Carroll.

New Philadelphia, which won back-to-back district championships in 2022 and 2023, saw its season end at 16-12 after the difficult setback.

“I told them in the huddle afterwards, I didn’t have this one (a season-ending speech) prepared because I had a feeling we were going to keep going,” explained Weisel.

Leading the Quaker offense were Maddox Brown (single, double), Carson Long (single, RBI), Vandall (double), Mac Steele (single) and Kaiden Stewart (single).

The Bobcats’ offensive leaders included Keaton Kyser (three singles), Davion Bahr (double, two RBI), Caden Moore (single), Valentine (single, RBI) and Angelo Rocco (single).

Meanwhile, Vandall and Valentine, two crafty right-handers, were masterful on the mound.

Vandall, headed to Mount Union to play basketball, went the distance, striking out seven and walking just two in taking the hard-luck loss.

“He (Vandall) has a bright future ahead, he’s going to play basketball (at Mount Union),” lauded Weisel. “He’s got a bright future — all of our seniors do. They are the guys who really did a lot for us in the program and changed the culture for years to come for New Philadelphia.”

“Once he (Vandall) settled in during the third, you had to try everything in our power because he settled in,” observed Lowery.

Meanwhile, Valentine raised his record to 7-0 on the season while striking out six and walking two in the complete-game win.

“Jake’s been our ace for the last three years,” noted Lowery. “He would have been our ace for four years due to COVID. He’s pitched in every big game you could imagine and he was prepared for this.”

It was the Bobcats who struck first Thursday. In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff batter Kyser singled to center, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Moore and advanced to third on a flyout by Regan Rogers. Valentine then delivered an RBI single through the left side of the infield and the Bobcats led 1-0. After Rocco drew a walk, Bahr hit a double to left center, scoring Valentine for a 2-0 lead.

Cambridge increased its advantage to 3-0 in the second, Kyser delivered a two-out single to right, then advanced to third on a single by Moore. The Bobcats scored when the Quakers attempted to throw out Moore on an attempted steal at second base. However, the play backfired, as Moore was safe and Kyser raced home on the late throw with the Bobcats’ third run of the game.

But New Philadelphia answered in the third. Steele drew a leadoff walk, moved up to third on a single by Stewart and scored on a sacrifice fly to right off the bat of Long, making it 3-1.

With Vandall and Valentine tossing shutouts over the next two frames, the Quakers inched closer on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. Vandall ripped a two-out double to left and moved up to third on a balk. He then raced home on a wild pitch, making it 3-2. The Quakers had a chance to tie things when Brown doubled to right but Valentine got the following New Philadelphia batter to line out, ending the threat.

New Philadelphia mounted one last rally in the seventh. With two outs, Steele beat out a Baltimore chop for an infield single but Valentine struck out the next New Philadelphia batter to secure the hard-earned win.

“This is our second appearance (in the regional) in the last three years,” said Lowery. “We’ve never made it to the regional finals (before now). We’ve made it this far, we may as well go win it.”

“Kudos to the Bobcats over there,” said Weisel. “Jamaal (Lowery) has got those guys playing really well and we just came up short.”

New Philadelphia returns five starters next spring as it looks to build off its back-to-back district championships.

“Being back-to-back district champs is awesome,” praised Weisel. “We have a lot back, but this one’s going to sting for a while.”

CAMBRIDGE 3, NEW PHILADELPHIA 2

Division II regional semifinal

New Philadelphia - 001 - 001 - 0 — 2 - 6 - 1

Cambridge - 210 - 000 - x — 3 - 7- 1

Vandall and Ballon. Valentine and Rogers. W: Valentine (7-0). L: Vandall. 2B: Bahr (C), Vandall (NP), Brown (NP). 3B: None. HR: None.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Cambridge baseball beats New Philadelphia in OHSAA regional semifinal