The Olentangy Orange baseball team has its sights set on its first state championship.
Coming off wins over Olentangy Liberty in a regional semifinal and Grove City in the regional final, the Pioneers (22-10) play Whitehouse Anthony Wayne (27-4) in a Division I state semifinal at 1 p.m. Thursday at Canal Park in Akron.
The winner plays Cincinnati Moeller (29-3) or Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (25-3) for the title at 10 a.m. Saturday.
OHSAA baseball:2023 Division I state tournament capsules
Orange is making its second state appearance. The Pioneers lost 3-2 to Strongsville in a 2017 semifinal.
“This is something special,” senior pitcher Jacob Tabor said. “To be a part of history in the school and to wear it across your chest and then be represented for years down the road means a lot to me. … This is an experience like no other.”
The school, which opened in 2008, has two OHSAA championships to its credit — the girls golf team won Division I state titles in 2016 and 2017.
Orange’s girls wrestling team won the first two state dual tournament championships in 2022 and 2023. That event is sponsored by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association.
Here are five keys to the Orange baseball team winning its first state title:
1. Scoring first makes difference for Pioneers
Coach Tom Marker, who was in charge of the Upper Arlington program when Orange reached the 2017 state tournament, said quick starts have been a key to his team’s success.
Marker highlights several key intangibles — Big Inning, Answer Back, Score First, Extend the Lead and Score with 2 Outs — on a board in the team’s batting facility. When the Pioneers accomplish one during a game, it’s recorded with a check mark.
“We have to score first,” Marker said. “That’s been our mentality all year. We want to be the team that gets on the board first and then from there we just try to add. If we do that, it gives us an opportunity.”
The Pioneers have scored first in 19 of their 32 games, including all five postseason contests.
“Scoring first is one of our biggest things,” Tabor said. “If we score first, we have usually won almost every game. It gets us ahead and gives us momentum.”
The top of the order has played a major role in that success, led by cleanup hitter Diego Astacio (1B/P), who is batting .475 with 27 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.
No. 3 hitter Cole Cahill (P/1B) is batting .411 with nine doubles, one triple, four home runs, 34 RBIs, 29 runs and 12 stolen bases. Leadoff hitter Ian Dando (2B) is batting .302 with 17 runs and 13 stolen bases.
2. Orange seniors must continue to lead way
With 17 seniors on the team, Marker said their leadership has helped fuel the Pioneers’ postseason run.
“(Winning a state title) would be amazing,” Astacio said. “It would be a legacy. It will be part of history, especially for our school. We haven’t won many state titles and to be remembered that way is something people aren’t going to forget about. People are still going to talk about this group of guys — me, Tabor, Cole — for five, 10 years from now.”
Although each player is making his first state tournament appearance, the Pioneers aren’t worried about the moment being too big.
“Nerves are a normal thing,” Astacio said. “It just means that you care about the game that you’re playing in. You care about the moment. You soak it in for a little bit, but once you step between those lines, it’s game time. It’s nothing different. It’s the same game that you play.”
3. Orange has seen Anthony Wayne’s style of play
Anthony Wayne reminds the Pioneers of Grove City, a team Orange beat 6-1 on Friday to earn its state berth.
While neither Anthony Wayne nor Grove City hits for a lot of power, both play with grit and determination.
The Pioneers say they won’t underestimate Anthony Wayne.
“They’re scrappy,” Astacio said. “They might not look physically like a good team, but they have the attitude and they bring it every game. We played them last year and it was a dogfight. They remind me of Grove City a little bit. They can bring energy.”
Orange beat visiting Anthony Wayne 2-1 in April 2022.
4. Scholvin’s return gives Orange veteran bat, glove
The Pioneers have been boosted by the return of senior shortstop Charlie Scholvin, who had been out since early April with a broken collarbone, broken bone in his hand and punctured lung sustained in a collision with left fielder Luke Shearer during a 17-5 OCC-Central win over Hilliard Davidson on April 10. Scholvin missed 23 games, while Shearer was lost for the season.
Scholvin delivered a hit and scored a run in a 7-6 win over Liberty in a regional semifinal last Thursday — his first game back — and hit a two-run double in a five-run fourth inning against Grove City. He also provides a defensive presence at shortstop.
“He never really left,” Marker said. “He was out of the lineup, but trained with us for so long. When he wasn’t able to train, he was right behind our guys teaching them up.
“Having him back in is definitely a shot in the arm for us in a positive way because with what he brings from the offensive side of the ball and defensive side of the ball. From a confidence standpoint, it helps our team, but the guys that played when he was out were huge.”
Scholvin has appeared in nine games, batting .375 with six doubles, 10 runs scored and five stolen bases.
5. Challenging schedule primes Orange for big stage
Marker believes a tough regular-season slate of games prepared his team for its run to state.
Orange played Liberty four times, losing three matchups in OCC-Central play before winning the regional semifinal. Liberty was the top seed in the district tournament and was ranked third in the final regular-season state poll.
The Pioneers’ schedule also included games with state-ranked Moeller (first), Cleveland St. Ignatius (fifth), Dublin Scioto (11th), Olentangy Berlin (13th) and Grove City (19th). Orange was not ranked in the top 20.
“It was a tough region, but we knew that going into it,” Marker said. “Our schedule prepared us for that. We were battle-tested.”
