The Panthers (25-8) competed in the state tournament for just the second time in program history.
Springboro coach Mark Pelfrey, who has been at Springboro since 1993, led the Panthers to the state tournament in 2019 when they fell to Mentor 4-0 in the semifinals.
“It was an amazing journey,” Pelfrey said. “Even though it stings right now, they’ll look back at the memories. The journey that we’ve had is what will stand out. This day will be gone. It’s been such a great group of kids — the seniors, especially, just outstanding leaders.
“The sting of losing today, but more importantly, it’s just such a group that has given so much. They deserve to be champions. They are champions, and just the fact that we weren’t able to get there, I felt for them.”
Olentangy (24-7) beat Lakota West 3-1 to advance to the state final. Springboro was tied with Lakota West at 13th in the final regular season coaches poll.
Olentangy made the state tournament just one other time in 2006. Both programs were searching for their first-ever state championship.
Olentangy grabbed two runs in the bottom of the first. Dominic Pirrone singled to left field to bring Rocco Bucci across the plate, and Luke Chilicki singled to center to bring home Cameron Birch.
Jacob Cane had an RBI single that scored Fortkamp to pull Springboro’s deficit to 2-1 in the top of the third. The Panthers left the bases loaded.
“There were definitely some calls that I didn’t agree with that inning,” Pelfrey said. “But we still had opportunities, and we didn’t get it done that inning. Their pitching did a great job. The kid was good at combinations as we’ve seen this year.”
A dropped popup by Olentangy allowed Cane to reach first to lead off the top of the sixth. But Olentangy’s Cooper Tracy struck out the next three Panther batters.
Fortkamp, Cane and Micah Brandon had Springboro’s only hits. Sophomore starter Dylan Brabston went 2 2/3 innings, gave up two earned runs on five hits. Junior Jacob Rhinehart came in on relief and retired 10 straight Olentangy batters.
In the know
Springboro won seven in a row and 10 of its last 11 heading into the state final.
The Panthers scored at least five runs in each of their five postseason wins. They were held to one run or less just two times during the regular season.
Springboro won the Greater Western Ohio Conference two years in a row.
Senior salute
The Panthers graduate 14 seniors in Owen Vaughn, Vince Fortkamp, Jacob Cane, Drew Davis, Colten Muhlenkamp, Colton Miller, Ethan Virtue, Blake Patterson, Dylan Preston, Bodie Abbott, Adam Smith, Evan King, Matthew Barch and Micah Brandon.
“A lot of them have been three-year starters, and several of them were two-year starters,” Pelfrey said. “Just their leadership — day in and day out. My job was easy. I really just sat back and let them run the ship. I just got to watch and got to be a close observer of what they were doing.”
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