ASHLAND – It felt like Thursday’s Division III sectional final baseball game between Ashland and Celina could have ended 100 different ways.
But in his final at-bat on Bud Plank Field at Archer Arrows Park, senior Jake Bryant decided a dogpile in shallow right field was the most fitting finish.
After committing two errors in the top of the seventh to let the sixth-seeded Bulldogs take their first lead of the game, 5-4, fourth-seeded Ashland benefited from a pair of Celina miscues in the bottom of the inning to set up Bryant’s two-out heroics in a 6-5 victory.
Bulldogs ace Tanner Wendel fired a two-strike fastball to Bryant, who smacked a single to center. The throw came in a bit to the right of home plate, allowing Trent Summers to score from second, narrowly beating catcher Jett Warner’s diving tag.
It sent a huge home crowd into a frenzy and culminated in the Arrows’ celebration in right field.
The No. 9 hitter this season for Ashland (10-11), Bryant had never had a walk-off hit in his life. He said he’d had a hard time seeing Wendel’s fastball all game, but was looking for it on his fateful swing.
“I’ve had the opportunity before (for a walk-off hit) and I haven’t gotten it done, so to get it done tonight – when it was my last game ever on this field – it feels amazing,” Bryant said.
“I couldn’t breathe underneath (the dogpile), but it was an awesome feeling.”
The victory marked Ashland’s third straight sectional title and sends the team into a matchup Tuesday at Tiffin’s Paradiso Athletic Complex against top-seeded Defiance (14-9), an 11-1 winner Thursday over Lima Shawnee.
First-year Arrows head coach A.J. Beer said the topsy-turvy seventh inning – which totaled nearly 70 pitches, three hits, three errors and four free passes all together – seemed fitting in a game he felt had two comparable teams.
“I was super nervous, but it’s all for the guys,” Beer said. “They put their hearts into it; I know how much it means to them and it means a lot to me.
“If you’re nervous, it means something. … I felt we competed really well tonight and made some plays we haven’t made all year.”
Arrows applied pressure all game
A senior with multiple college offers for baseball, Wendel (3-3) entered Thursday with a 1.34 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched for Celina (11-12).
The right-hander was hitting the high-80s with his fastball and had found a way to avoid allowing big innings to the Arrows, who stranded at least one runner in each of the first six innings.
But after Wendel got a groundout to open the seventh on his 102nd pitch, AHS got its opportunity.
An error at shortstop allowed Brayton Stuart to reach, then a misplayed ball down the right-field line off the bat of Summers (2-for-3, 2 runs) gave the Arrows runners on first and third.
Ashland’s Carter Nelson (2 RBIs) scorched a grounder to first for the second out, but Stuart sprinted home and beat the first baseman’s throw to the plate to tie it at 5-5.
Nick Manges then drew a walk to set up Bryant’s big moment.
“We really rallied together this week and said that we were going to decide when we’re done and we were going to play as a team,” said Bryant, who also had an RBI single in the fourth that scored Summers and put AHS ahead 3-1.
Fifth-year Celina head coach John Dorner said Bryant was the last batter Wendel was going to face.
“Because of where they were in the lineup, we decided to stick with his velocity,” Dorner said. “The pitch count was getting high – I don’t know if I’ve ever had a pitcher go that high (125 pitches) – but he wanted to stay in. He said he felt good and he was still throwing the ball well.
“If we make a couple plays, we’re probably going home with a win. But we didn’t and that’s the game of baseball.”
Arrows survive Celina comeback
Ashland ace Evan Dahinden was threatening to go the distance as well when the Bulldogs broke through in the top of the seventh.
A leadoff single to Luke Maxwell (3 runs) was followed by an error that allowed Wes Greber to reach. Then Dahinden hit leadoff batter Brodee Schulte-Arnold (2-for-3, RBI) to load the bases with nobody out and the Arrows clinging to a 4-3 lead.
That was the 98th and final pitch for Dahinden, who struck out just one but navigated steady traffic during the game.
Ashland righty Carson Little entered in relief, allowing a game-tying sacrifice fly to Warner, then walking two straight to push the go-ahead run across.
But the junior minimized the damage with back-to-back, bases-loaded strikeouts and the Arrows needed just a run to tie it.
“I was proud of our effort, to come back and being down in the last inning to score and go ahead,” Dorner said. “But they turned around and did the same thing.”
Dahinden battles in big moment
Dahinden lost the second half of his sophomore year and his entire summer season in 2025 due to a back injury, but has established himself as Ashland’s ace this year after junior Miles Farnsworth was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery.
On Thursday, Dahinden faced the minimum three batters in three different innings and allowed just four hits, mostly avoiding the big inning despite four walks and two hit batters.
The junior (3-4) held the Bulldogs hitless when batting with two outs in the game and left with a 2.43 ERA this season.
“I felt very confident going in and I have guys behind me that I know I can trust,” said Dahinden, whose fastball was in the mid-80s Thursday and who has hopes of playing at the college level.
“Evan has matured a lot as the year’s gone on and he’s gotten better with each start,” Beer said. “He keeps putting quality starts together for us and I was happy we could get him some run support tonight.”
Dahinden’s success has been critical to an Ashland team that not only lost Farnsworth for the season, but also Lake Erie College commit and senior Ajay Workman (torn labrum).
“It’s tough not having (Farnsworth) for second conference games and games like this,” Dahinden said, “but we’ve got a deep pitching staff, so we trust our guys.”
Junior Jeff Hickey also missed the bulk of the season due to injury, but returned recently as a designated hitter.
He singled and scored Thursday in the first inning on an RBI groundout from junior Noah Merrill, who also smoked an RBI triple down the right-field line to score senior Tanner Wolfe in the third.
Additionally, the Arrows got a clutch effort from Ethan Haag on Thursday. The sophomore shortstop has been the team’s leading hitter this year (.400 batting average, 21 runs, 17 RBIs), but it was his glove that was key against Celina.
Haag made plays throughout the game and started a pair of 6-4-3 double plays with Bryant that shortened the Bulldogs’ fifth and sixth innings.
The sophomore was Ashland’s lone All-Ohio Cardinal Conference first-team pick this spring.
“Ethan Haag is a special player and we’re blessed to have him for a couple more years,” Beer said. “The dude just works everyday and nothing satisfies him.”
Arrows top an Ohio baseball legend
In defeating the Bulldogs and Dorner, Ashland topped one of the best high school head coaches in state history.
Now with a 619-314 career record, he was a three-time state champion during 20 seasons leading St. Henry (1999, 2000, 2003) and was inducted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014.
Beer said it was an honor to get his first tournament victory against Dorner, who entered this spring with the fifth-most wins in Ohio among active coaches.
“I’m fortunate to get this one because he’s got a wealth of knowledge,” Beer said. “Just talking to him pregame, I knew I was a little far behind when he told me he had a few wins and about 40 years of experience.
“It was a really good team we played tonight and it feels good to be on top.”
Ashland now has collected double-digit victories in seven consecutive seasons and the squad will have its hands full in the district semifinals against Defiance.
The Bulldogs have made four Final Four appearances since 2010 and won state titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016. If they beat Lima Bath on Friday, they will clinch at least a share of the Western Buckeye League.
“We’ve got to keep progressing and try to get one at a time,” Beer said. “We’re excited for the opportunity.”
