H.S. Roundup: Fairfield Christian baseball wins first-ever district title

Tom Wilson, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
·3 min read

BASEBALL

The Fairfield Union girls 4x800 relay team received second place with a time of 9:49.64 at the 2022 Division II regional meet in Chillicothe, Ohio, on May 26, 2022.
The Fairfield Union girls 4x800 relay team received second place with a time of 9:49.64 at the 2022 Division II regional meet in Chillicothe, Ohio, on May 26, 2022.

Fairfield Christian Academy 7, East Knox 5: The Knights made history on Saturday when they came from behind to defeat the Bulldogs in a Division IV Central District final at Upper Arlington High School.

The game originally began on Thursday but was halted because of rain. It was continued on Saturday.

After falling behind 3-1 in the first inning, the Knights scored five runs in the fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead. East Knox cut the deficit to 6-5 in the bottom half of the fifth inning, but the Knights were able to add an insurance run in the sixth.

Manny Schulz pitched six innings to pick up the win. He gave up nine hits, five earned runs and walked two. Jimmy Schmitz pitched the seventh inning to earn the save, allowing one hit and one walk.

Fairfield Christian finished with 12 hits. Matthew Keener had two hits, including a triple, and RBI and scored two runs, while Andrew Keener went 2-for-2 with two RBI. Schulz and Justin Hammel had two hits and an RBI each, Gunner Hankison had a hit and an RBI and Gabe Linn had a hit and scored two runs.

The Knights advanced to play Fort Loramie at 5 p.m. Thursday in a regional semifinal at Cincinnati Princeton High School.

TRACK

Lancaster has a solid day at regionals: The Golden Gales had several competitors qualify for the Division I state track and field championships, which will be held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University on Friday and Saturday.

Those who for the state meet were Lukas Lang (pole vault), Eli Rathburn (400), Colten Thress (800), the 3,200 relay team of Trevor Lanoy, Jacob Koenig, Wes Taylor and Thress, and the 1,600 relay team of Brendon Simcox, Owen McCandlish, Three and Rathburn.

Fairfield Union sending several to state meet: The Lady Falcons will be well-represented at the Division II state meet as several qualified after outstanding regional performances.

Those who qualified for the state meet were the 3,200 relay team of Anna Conrad, Abbie Pike, Andrea Phillips and Taylor Rife, the 1,600 relay team of Pike, Conrad, Sarah Lepi and Hannah George, Conrad qualified in the 1,600 and Phillips in the 3,200.

The Lady Falcons finished eighth out of 38 teams at the regional and boys placed 31st out of 43 teams.

Liberty Union’s Rice punches her ticket: Also in Division II, Liberty Union freshman Makayla Rice qualified for the state meet in the long jump with a leap of 15-5 ½ to place third at the regional. She is the first Liberty Union girl to qualify for the state meet in the long jump in 42 years.

Alison Sponseller tied the school record in the pole vault and finished sixth.

Fisher Catholic competes in regional: The Irish boys and girls competed in the Division III regional at Southeastern High School.

The Irish girls were led by sophomore Ruby Hagy, who placed in the 800 with a personal best time of 2:22.94. The 3,200 relay team of Maggie Murphy, Kate Gavin, Charli Gillum and Hagy placed 13th with a time of 11:08.77. The 800 relay team of Carla Bora, Abby Krooner, Kate Gavin and Aubrey Beauseau placed 13th with a time of 1:56.25.

For the Irish boys, senior Brennan Quaintance finished 12th in the long jump (19-6).

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: H.S. Roundup: Fairfield Christian baseball wins first-ever district title