LANCASTER – The pitching of left-hander Brody Randall and a first-inning steal of home lifted the Newark baseball team to a 1-0 win over Olentangy Liberty in a Division I regional semifinal June 2 at Beavers Field.
The Wildcats (21-7) advanced to their first regional final since 2006. They will play Olentangy or Olentangy Orange at 2 p.m. June 4 in Lancaster.
“Why not us?” Newark coach Mike Wheeler said. “At this level of the tournament, everybody is going to be good. You’re in the final 16 [teams] in the state [in Division I]. We talked about it. We’re not supposed to be here. Fly around, have fun, make plays and line up and see if we can give ourselves a chance.”
In a game that featured several key plays on the bases, leadoff batter Brody Driskel stole home in the top of the first to help Newark eliminate a Liberty team (24-7) that was the No. 1 seed in the district tournament.
Driskel was hit by a Parker Van Engelenhoven pitch and later dashed home when Luke Miller was caught in a rundown between first and second on a pickoff attempt. Miller was able to race back safely to first.
Randall allowed five hits with three strikeouts and three walks in a complete-game effort. He was also the winning pitcher in Newark’s 11-1, five-inning victory over Dublin Coffman in the district final May 28.
“It’s all about confidence,” Randall said. “I had people talk to me before the game, give a rundown of teams that [Liberty] played, and I felt confident going out there. I didn’t have any nerves. I knew I was in the right spot, and I knew they wanted me to pitch this game because they knew I could do it.”
Liberty had chances to tie or take the lead but was denied each time.
Louie Santangelo led off the bottom of the first with a double but was called out when he was hit by a grounder hit by Evan Thacker while running to third. Thacker was later tagged out in a rundown between third and home while attempting to score on Knox Brenning’s single.
Van Engelenhoven led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple that eluded left fielder Trenton Wilson and center fielder Bodie Smith. Smith injured a knee on the play and was forced to leave the game.
Randall got out of the jam when Van Engelenhoven attempted to steal home with two outs and was tagged out.
“We had three bang-bang plays at the plate, and two out of three went against us,” Liberty coach Ty Brenning said. “You prepare and you play hard and in the end, the outcome rests on a knife’s edge.”
Van Engelenhoven, a Louisville commit, allowed one run on six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in 6⅔ innings.
This story will be updated.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Newark beats Olentangy Liberty to reach OHSAA baseball regional final