Here's how Elder baseball beat Lebanon for a district title in a 15-inning thriller

SHARONVILLE, Ohio − Elder head baseball coach Mark Thompson has seen just about everything over the last three-plus decades with the Panthers but nothing could compare to Thursday night.

In the Division I district championship game at Princeton High School, Elder outlasted Lebanon, 6-2, in a 15-inning thriller to advance to the regional tournament. It's Elder's 32nd district title in program history.

"It was the ugliest, longest game I've ever been a part of," Thompson said.

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Here's how Elder advanced over Lebanon, which knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs a season ago.

3 keys to Elder's marathon win over Lebanon

• With one out in the top of the 15th inning and the score tied 2-2, Elder second baseman Brayden Curlis struck out on a curveball in the dirt. The ball took an awkward hop to the backstop, though, allowing Curlis to reach. Designated hitter Nicky Gutzwiller followed with a perfectly executed hit-and-run, sending Curlis to the third with a base hit to right. Right fielder Ben Weigand followed with an RBI single that would prove to be the game-winner.

Elder would add three more runs for good measure in the frame after the two teams were stuck in a defensive stalemate for the first seven extra innings. Will Summers hit a sacrifice fly and Kevin Hilton singled in another to make it 6-2.

"We're gonna be who we are, which is aggressive," Thompson said.

• Elder just recently inserted Weigand into the Panther lineup and the junior delivered in a big way Thursday. In the top of the seventh, he appeared to have the game-winning RBI when he broke a 1-1 tie with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Curlis, who doubled to lead off the inning.

"He (Weigand) hasn't played too much except coming off the bench as a pinch-runner or a defensive replacement," Thompson said. "I don't think we're getting him out of the lineup anytime soon."

• Elder senior Ben Schoster had not thrown more than three innings in a game this season but stepped up with the Panthers' season on the line. The senior entered in the bottom of the ninth inning and fired seven shutout innings, yielding just three hits, for his second win of the season.

"Honestly, I felt pretty good. I maybe could've gone a few more innings," Schoster said. "Everyone did their part. It was a great team win."

Thompson added: "He (Schoster) was just unbelievable for us. One of the gutsiest efforts I've ever been around."

Elder starter Atticus Wood pitched well to set the table, tossing 4 ⅔ innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts. Junior Caden Ammon was first out of the bullpen for the Panthers, going 3 ⅓ innings.

"We talk about pitching and defense having to be the two constants in the tournament," Thompson said. "I think we made one error, maybe, and pitching was outstanding."

Elder plays Mason in Division I regional semifinal at 5 p.m., Thursday, June 1, at Xavier University. The other side of the bracket, Moeller and West Clermont, will play before them at 2 p.m.

Senior sendoff

Lebanon, the co-champions of the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, finishes the year 21-9. The Warriors' senior class included Will Bittman, Jack Cecil, Jesse Dunlap, Colton Hartman, Jaden Upper and Evan Weilnau.

Dunlap, the ECC's wins leader, toed the rubber for the Warriors and turned in an excellent start, giving up just two runs (one earned) over 6 ⅔ innings with five strikeouts and no walks. Bittman replaced him and was stellar on the bump. He pitched six innings and at one point retired 13 straight Elder hitters.

Cecil's heroics kept Lebanon alive in the bottom of the seventh inning. Trailing 2-1 and down to its final strike, Lebanon's Kyle Koch was hit by a pitch. Cecil, whose RBI single in the fifth tied the game at 1-1, then doubled to right field on a two-strike pitch to tie it once again. Cecil was 5-for-7 and had two of Lebanon's four hits in extras.

Hartman, a projected top MLB prospect, played right field after throwing 10 innings against Kings in the district semifinals. He had singles in the second and eighth innings. Upper also singled twice for Lebanon in the loss and Weilnau, the catcher, drew a pair of walks.

Final game for legendary coach Larry Price

Thursday marked the final game for longtime Lebanon head baseball coach Larry Price, who announced last June that 2023 would be his final season.

Price, who previously coached at Miami East and Fairfield, earned his 350th career win earlier this season. He went 181-93 over the last 11 years at Lebanon and led the program to its first district championship last season.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elder baseball outlasts Lebanon for district title in 15 innings