9:51 p.m. EDT April 30, 2016

Miami Hamilton 5, OU Chillicothe 4

Miami Hamilton scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge OU Chillicothe (14-14, 10-4 ORCC) in the winner bracket finals of the ORCC tournament at VA Stadium Saturday. The Hilltoppers will play the winner of Friday’s Lima-Lancaster game for a chance to play Miami Hamilton again in the state championship.

Eric Rinehart went 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Hilltoppers, David Allen tripled and scored a run, Nolan Taylor had a hit and an RBI and Dalton Floyd had a double and an RBI. Colin Swackhammer pitched 6²/₃ innings for the loss, walking three and allowing six hits and five runs, four earned.

OU-Chillicothe 7, OSU Lima 6

The Hilltoppers (14-13, 10-3 ORCC) beat OSU Lima at VA Stadium on Friday in the 2nd round of the ORCC tourney. OU-Chillicothe won in the bottom of the 7th with a walk game-winning RBI by Shane Pack.

OU-Chillicothe had seven runs on 14 hits to OSU Lima’s six runs on 10 hits. Tyler Hinty got the win pitching 1¹/₃innings allowing one hit followed by GW Wallace pitching 5²/₃innings allowing six runs on nine hits and throwing three strikeouts. Eric Rhinehart was 2-for-4 while scoring a run, Ryan Houser went 2-for-4 also with two runs scored, Nolan Taylor was 1-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored alongside Dalton Floyd going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Drew Barr was 2-for-4 with an RBI while Shane Pack went 3-for-4 with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 7th.

 Derrick Webb, Reporter8:45 p.m. EDT May 1, 2016

CHILLICOTHE - Time really does fly by.

Seemingly yesterday, the area was just diving into the start of the 2016 spring sports season. Now, postseason match-ups have been announced and the time to 'do or die' is coming quicker than expected.

The Southeast Ohio District Athletic Board released first round match-ups Sunday afternoon. The only team out of the Scioto Valley Conference to be awarded a No. 1 seed was Westfall's softball team, while two were awarded No. 2 seeds — Adena baseball and Unioto softball.

Here's a full breakdown of each first-round OHSAA tournament match-up.

SOFTBALL

In Division II, the No. 2 Unioto Shermans (16-4) have been matched with No. 7 Vinton County (10-12) at home on May 11. The Vikings are no strangers to SVC opponents as they've faced Zane Trace, Paint Valley, Huntington and Southeastern already this season. In those games, Vinton County is 5-2.

The No. 4 Chillicothe Cavaliers (12-4) will have a chance at revenge as they host the No. 5 Waverly Tigers (13-8) on May 11. The Tigers ended the Cavaliers' 2015 season in a Division II sectional semifinal in a 14-5 contest.

If both Chillicothe and Unioto win their first two tournament contests, they would meet each other in a district semifinal. The No. 1 seeds in Division II's Southeast District are Meigs (17-3) and Fairfield Union (17-0).

Postseason play in Division III will begin on May 10 as the No. 9 Adena Warriors (4-19) travel to Lynchburg-Clay (5-7); a No. 8 seed.

On May 13, the tournament will continue as multiple sectional final contests get under way. The No. 1 seeded Westfall Mustangs (14-8) will await the winner of Adena and Lynchburg-Clay that night as Southeastern, a No. 5 seed, travels to No. 6 Gallia Academy (8-13).

Also playing on May 13 will be the No. 4 seeded Piketon Redstreaks (7-13) and the No. 3 seeded Zane Trace Pioneers (10-9). Piketon will host No. 5 North Adams (7-5) as Zane Trace welcomes No. 6 River Valley (7-10) to Kinnikinnick. Huntington (6-15), a No. 6 seed, will travel to No. 3 Northwest (5-14) the same evening.

Aside from Westfall, the No.1 seeds in Division III are Wheelersburg (16-2) and Alexander (13-5).

The lone area team in Division IV — the Paint Valley Bearcats — earned a No. 3 seed. The Bearcats (12-6) also earned a bye and will await the winner of No. 6 Sciotoville (6-11) and No. 11 Manchester (2-10) on May 12. That contest will be played with a sectional title on the line.

No. 1 seeds in Division IV are Fairfield (14-4) and Symmes Valley (16-3).

BASEBALL

The Chillicothe Cavaliers (5-12) have been slotted as a No. 9 seed in Division II and will travel to No. 8 Athens (10-11) on May 9 in a sectional semifinal. Lower down the bracket, the No. 5 Unioto Shermans (12-7) will travel to No. 4 Waverly (13-6) on May 12 in a sectional final. The Shermans and Tigers split a doubleheader earlier this season. 

The No. 1 seeds in Division II are Jackson (14-4) — who Chillicothe would play if it was to win — and Sheridan (14-6).

In Division III, a total of seven area teams will be in postseason action on May 11.

No. 9 Huntington (8-12) travels to No. 8 Portsmouth West (9-8) with a trip to a sectional final and a date with No. 1 Minford (12-2) on the line. The No. 3 Zane Trace Pioneers (18-5) will host No. 14 Portsmouth (4-12) as SVC foes square off in Bainbridge in a meeting between No. 4 Paint Valley (15-6) and No. 13 Westfall (7-15).

Also in action will be the No. 2 seeded Adena Warriors (14-5), who host No. 15 West Union (3-14). The Piketon Redstreaks (6-14), a No. 10 seed, will travel to No. 7 North Adams (9-4) while the No. 6 Southeastern Panthers (11-9) stay at home and face No. 11 Oak Hill (9-12).

No. 1 seeds — aside from Minford — in Division III are as follows: Alexander (12-6) and Wheelersburg (13-4).

Full tournament brackets are posted on the Southeast Ohio District Athletic Board's website.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509

 Derrick Webb, Reporter10 p.m. EDT April 29, 2016

FRANKFORT - Sophomore JD Blevins still is undefeated, still has an ERA below 2.00 and still keeps his calm in pressure situations.

The young southpaw guided Adena back on track after uncharacteristic back-to-back losses this week in a 5-1 win against Huntington on Friday night at Adena High School.

En route to the win, Blevins (5-0) went all seven innings while throwing a total of 113 pitches — 75 for strikes. He struck out 12 and walked three.

"We've been stretching JD out all season long, and he's a kid that we feel comfortable with right now," Adena coach Tom Barr said. "We're blessed with pitching on this team. We'll have about four or five guys that are now ready to go Monday since we don't play over the next few days. JD did get into some trouble tonight, but he kept control just like we expect him to."

Facing Blevins in the duel was Huntington's Merfel Conley, a right hander who has been decent all year long. Conley (2-5) also was impressive, throwing six innings and allowing just one earned run. The senior fanned three and allowed just one free pass in the loss.

"Merfel has good velocity, and over our past two games, we've seen a couple of slow lefties," Barr said. "We knew that we were going to get Huntington's best tonight, but that's what we want. We like that. I think, other than Paint Valley, we've had everybody's best. For us, we're still interested in playing late in May. That's where our mentality and goals lie."

The Warriors (14-5, 10-2 Scioto Valley Conference) scored out of the gate. Leadoff hitter Collin Cory drew a walk in the first inning and would cross home plate on an RBI single into left field from Braden Wilburn.

Thanks to three runs in the fourth, Adena then was able to enjoy a little breathing room.

Senior Cy Carroll singled to start the inning before moving to second on a second straight single, this time from Collin Cory. With two outs in the inning and Wilburn at the plate, Huntington (8-12, 1-11 SVC) committed a costly fielding error that allowed both Carroll and Cory to score. Blevins then laced a ball into deep right-center field to plate Carroll and make it a 4-0 ballgame.

The Huntsmen finally broke through in the top of the sixth when Devon Byrd knocked in Elijah McCloskey on an opposite field RBI single to make it 4-1. But the Warriors took a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the inning — on an RBI single from Bo Dratwa — and eventually the win.

"We have to make sure we shape up at the plate, but I'm happy with how we swung the bats, for the most part, tonight," Barr said. "We hit a couple of hard balls that were just right at (Huntington)."

Blevins and Wilburn both went 1-for-3 at the plate with a run and RBI each. Dratwa finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and stolen base as Collin Cory went 1-for-2 with two runs. Cy Carroll, playing on his Senior Night, also was 1-for-3 with a run.

For the Huntsmen, Byrd was 1-for-2 with the RBI while Jacob Pugh, Conley, and Travis Atwood all went 1-for-3. McCloskey was 0-for-3 but did a score a run and steal a bag.

The Warriors will travel to Paint Valley on Monday while Huntington is in action the same day against Zane Trace at home.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509