SOUTH WEBSTER — Simply put, and likely representative of the way a tightly-contested Southern Ohio Conference Division III baseball championship chase will play out this season, the host South Webster Jeeps squeezed their way through this one on Tuesday.
That’s because a bunting Bo Stephens suicide squeezed home fellow junior Jacob McGraw, and the Jeeps pulled out a thrilling 2-1 win over visiting Valley in only the second SOC III tilt of the 2025 season.
Both teams entered Tuesday’s blustery bout at 4-0 and 1-0 in the no-margin-for-error and ever-competitive SOC III, as it had been a full week since either team played —given the inclement weather of the opening 10 days in April.
Valley opened conference competition with a 3-1 win over defending division champion Wheelersburg, while Tuesday’s triumph was the second such SOC III South Webster walkoff win —the first coming against Waverly 10 days ago in the opener in eight innings (1-0).
In a classic pitchers’ duel with junior arms Benaiah Andrews of the Jeeps and Jaekyn Ridout of the Indians, it all came down to the Jeeps’ last at-bat once again.
McGraw led off and drilled a ball to right-center field, as Valley junior centerfielder Gabe McNeil made a dashing hard charge at it —and initially appeared to make the difficult degree-challenging catch.
But when McNeil showed the ball, it got away from him —and McGraw found himself at second base with what was properly scored a double.
Brody Perkins then stepped in and grounded out to second base, moving McGraw to third with one out.
That’s when Stephens stepped in, veteran SWHS head coach Ryan McClintic called for Stephens’ suicide squeeze, and he got the bunt down right in front of the plate in a well-executed fashion.
McGraw raced home, and nicely slid under the tag —in exactly the nick of time —of Valley catcher Parker Robinson.
That set off a wild celebration by the Jeeps, and momentarily moved them into outright first-place in the super-rugged SOC III.
With only 10 league games now, instead of the former 16, the difference between a win or a loss in the column can be —and is usually —quite significant.
As a result of McGraw’s winning run, Andrews got the complete-game win — overcoming four walks, three wild pitches and three Indians hits with three strikeouts and indeed stellar defense behind him.
He faced the Indians three times thru —and retired the side 1-2-3 in the fourth, sixth and sevenths stanzas.
McNeil in the first, Nolan Barnett in the second and Ridout with an infield hit in the fifth had the three basehits for Valley.
The Indians opened the game with an earned run by the leadoff man McNeil, who singled to left and advanced to second and third via two Andrews wild pitches.
He scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Tate Queen.
In the second, Barnett singled to center to lead off —and Nick Queen and Hunter Cunningham drew walks to load the bases with no outs.
But Andrews induced Brady Hanes to line out to Tristan Belford at first for the double play, then Andrews struck out the last Indian of the inning to escape the jam.
In the third, he walked Tate Queen with two outs —but Andrews initiated a pickoff, and a 1-3-6-3-4 rundown of Queen between first and second.
In the fifth, Andrews escaped another situation —this time with the bases loaded.
Cunningham drew a leadoff walk —then Valley combined a sacrifice bunt, the Jeeps’ only error and Ridout’s two-out infield single to load the bases.
But speedy South Webster senior centerfielder Dylan Shupert robbed Tate Queen of at least a surefire run-scoring single —running and diving to make the catch for the third and final out.
The outcome also denied Ridout of a complete-game pitching win, as he struck out nine and retired nine of the ...
