Peebles head coach Kenny Dick (left) and his Peebles Indians will open Division III sectional play on May 11 with a trip to Ironton. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Regular season play is coming to a close this week, weather permitting, and now the quartet of high school baseball teams in Adams County know what lies ahead for them in sectional tournament competition. On Sunday, May 7, the Southeast District released the baseball sectional pairings for Divisions III and IV and tourney action begins this weekend.
It has been a tough spring for the local nines and the only team moving into tournament play with a current winning record is the Peebles Indians, who held a mark of 8-5 as of press time. The Indians will open their Division III sectional play on Thursday, May 11 as a #15 seed. The Tribe and head coach Kenny Dick will be traveling to Ironton High School to face the #10 seeded Tigers in a 5 p.m. first pitch. That game will be a sectional final so a win for the Peebles squad would send them to the district tournament at Paints Stadium on May 24 at 4 p.m., to possibly match up with #3 seeded Huntington if the seeding holds.
Also in Division II will be head coach Rob Meade and his North Adams Green Devils, who sport a 6-11 record at press time. The Green Devils are the #21 seed in the super sectional and will have a first round sectional home game on Tuesday, May 16, hosting the #28 seeded Crooksville Ceramics (1-16). A win there sends the Devils to the Division III sectional title game and a May 18 trip to #4 seeded Wheelersburg (14-6) with a trip to Paints Stadium on the line.
“I’m happy with the draw,” said Coach Meade. “We’re glad to have a home game given our record so we fared pretty well in my opinion.”
Coach Joe Kramer and his West Union Dragons (2-10) also reside in Division III and will be the #29 seed on the sectional bracket. The Dragons will be on the road on May 16 to face #20 seeded Piketon (6-14) in a first round contest with a trip to the sectional finals at stake, the reward being a trip to #5 seeded Lucasville Valley (17-4) on May 18.
The only local squad in Division IV is the Manchester Greyhounds under the direction of Coach Josh Reaves. The young Greyhound squad stood at 5-13 at press time and will be the #17 seed on the sectional bracket. The Hounds will be on the road on Saturday, May 13 to face #16 seed Eastern Pike in a scheduled 1 p.m. first pitch. Win that one and the prize for the Hounds is one of the top-ranked Division IV teams in the state of Ohio and fellow member of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, the #1 seeded Whiteoak Wildcats (19-1). That game would take place at Whiteoak on May 16 at 5 p.m.
“I think we are batter than our record indicates, but it’s the same old voting system,” said Coach Reaves of his team’s draw. “I was hoping for at least a 13 seed but we will do our best to get to the big game at Whiteoak.”
All of the baseball tournament brackets can be found at https://www.ohsaa.org/SEDAB.
