District baseball: Highland's Reid Oney locked in, blanks Massillon

STRUTHERS — The Highland baseball team was as good as gold in a 9-0 win over 13th-seeded Massillon on Thursday afternoon in the Division II, Northeast 1 District final at Bob Cene Park. Starting pitcher Reid Oney was locked in for fourth-seeded Highland (18-4), which advanced to the Region 5 semifinals against Walsh Jesuit (12-12) at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Gilmour Academy. The regional appearance is the Hornets' first since reaching the 2018 D-I state semifinals. The 6-foot-3 Oney went the distance, allowing just three hits and one walk while hitting one batter. He struck out six. The senior's performance came fewer than 24 hours after Dan Miller tossed a complete game and allowed just one unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out seven in an 8-1 win over Massillon Perry. "(Teams) can't settle down at all when we're going back to back," Oney said. "If you're in a final game, then you're going to get me, and you're most likely getting Dan the first game next week, and we're going to keep it rolling." While Oney was dealing, the Highland offense put up two runs apiece in the first, third, fourth and sixth innings and added one in the fourth. Highland got on the board early, as Colton Winston led off the first by getting hit by a pitch, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Anthony DePompei and then third on a single by Casey Myser before scoring on a groundout by Grady Gibb. Myser later scored on a single by Miller to make it 2-0. The Hornets added two more in the third, as Myser walked to lead off and moved to second on a single by Gibb and third on a bunt single by Miller. With the bases loaded, Lucas Gerding looked to bunt and pulled it back as Myser broke down the line. The catcher threw to third, and Myser took off to the plate and scored. That was when Oney knew the Hornets were in control. "I love pitching with the lead. It's so different," Oney said. "I knew the key today was going to be throwing strikes and they were swinging early, grounding out. I got a couple strikeouts and set the tone. I think when it was 4-0, they were completely out of there." Gibb scored from third later in the inning when a pickoff throw to second base went into center field. In the fourth, Winston led off with a bunt single and later scored on a wild pitch. Myser singled and scored on a single by Gibb. Highland added another run in the fifth on an single by Anthony DePompei that scored Gerding, who led off with a single. The sixth inning saw a groundout by Parker Janickas bring in Miller and a walk by DePompei plate Nick Dobkowski. The Hornets had a chance to end the game by mercy rule, but a deep blast by Myser was caught for the third out. The offense put together 11 hits, with Myser, Gibb, Miller and Gerding picking up two each and DePompei, Dobkowski and Winston one apiece. Winston reached base all five times he stepped to the plate by getting a single and three walks (one intentional), as well a hit by a pitch. "I'm just trying to see as many pitches as possible, help my team out as much as possible," Winston said. "Nine runs, 11 hits. You don't see that too often in a playoff game, and we made it happen. I love my offense, and I love leading off." When the game was over, the players lined up for their gold medals and the district championship trophy. Myser couldn't stop looking at his medal. "This is awesome," he said. "This is our first gold one. We never got one between football, baseball, basketball, anything, so this is sweet. It's going to be a nice one to hang in the room." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Highland 9, Massillon 0 Division II, Northeast 1 District Final MASSILLON&emsp;000 000 0 — 0 3 2 HIGHLAND&emsp;202 212 x — 9 11 0 WP — Reid Oney (3-1) 7 innings, walk, 6 strikeouts, 1 hit by pitch. LP — Alex Henthorn 2-plus innings, 3 runs, 3 earned, 2 hits, 3 walks, hit batter, strikeout. Massillon (11-16). Highland (18-4) — Colton Winston single, 3 walks, 2 runs; Casey Myser 2 singles, walk, hit by pitch, 3 runs; Grady Gibb 2 singles, walk, run, 2 RBIs; Dan Miller 2 singles, walk, run, RBI; Lucas Gerding single, double, walk, Anthony DePompei single, walk, 2 RBIs.