District baseball tournaments took place from Saturday through Wednesday, with six district winners crowned from the 32nd through 37th District.
Here are your winners:
32nd District: Simon Kenton 6, Walton-Verona 2
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33rd District: Conner 9, Ryle 6
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34th District: Dixie Heights 5, St. Henry 3
Will Steczynski’s three hits caused him to be a menace on the basepaths as he stole four bases and scored two runs in the Colonels 5-3 victory, winning their fifth straight district title.
Steczynski had three of the eight Colonel (20-17) hits on the day, the Owens, Owen Stulz and Owen Caudill combined to drive in three runs, Stulz with two and Caudill with one.
Colonels’ Austin Krohmer pitched a complete game six-hitter, striking out eight and walking two.
The Crusaders (13-16), who defeated Dixie 7-6 on May 7, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after two, thanks to a Brady Aubachon RBI single and later scoring on a double steal. Dixie answered with three in the top of the third before the Crusaders tied it up on the bottom half on Tyler Detzel’s sac fly RBI.
Breaking a 3-3 tie, Steczynski walked in the fifth, stole second and third and crossed home plate on an error. The insurance run came when Carson Guenther scored on a wild pitch in the sixth.
Ian Schneidt took the loss for St. Henry, lasting 2.1 innings and allowing six hits and three earned runs. Trey Fedders pitched 3.2 innings of relief, allowing two hits and an earned run. Aubachon tossed a scoreless seventh.
Dixie Heights finished the game with seven stolen bases, which proved to be the difference in the game.
35th District: Beechwood 8, Covington Catholic 4
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36th District: Highlands 13, Newport Central Catholic 0 (5 innings)
The number 13 was a popular one for Highlands (25-7) on Wednesday. Not only did they dispose of Newport Central Catholic 13-0 in five innings, it marked their 13th straight 36th District title.
NewCath (16-16) entered the game with optimism, having won the first meeting between the two during the regular season, 4-3 on April 16. Highlands quickly eliminated that thought of another loss. They jumped on the Thoroughbreds early with a three-spot in the first, thanks to a quick strike homerun from leadoff hitter Nolan Schwalbach.
Adam Forton and Jacob Robinson also went yard in the contest, the two clearing the fence during a four-run fourth inning to make it 7-0. Highlands piled it on in the fifth with a six-spot to extend the lead to 13-0.
Robinson led the way with three hits and three RBI, Schwalbach and Brooks Hendrix with two hits apiece, Hendrix with a double and two RBI. Forton, who threw a two-hitter on the mound, added two RBI along with Max McNay.
Forton’s two-hitter was efficient as can be, 44 of his 61 pitches going for strikes as he struck out seven.
The win for Highlands’ coach Brian Benzinger marked the 400th of his career. Prior to being in Fort Thomas, he was the head coach at New Richmond (Ohio) for 20 years.
Not much went right for NewCath, Ian Mann pitched two innings and allowed three earned runs on two hits, Jonathan Meyer charged with 10 earned runs in 2.2 innings of work. Meyer and Mann had the lone hits for the Thoroughbreds, Mann with a double.
37th District: Campbell County 11, Scott 1 (5 innings)
Tyler Schumacher was dominant on the mound and the plate as the Camels collected 12 hits on their way to a fourth straight district title.
Schumacher struck out 10 and allowed three hits over five innings of work, not issuing a walk and 56 of his 70 pitches going for strikes. While impressive on the bump, what he did with his bat one-upped it. He went 3-for-3 with two homeruns, six RBI and two runs scored.
Campbell County’s (25-10) Zach Franzen, Camden Tiemeier, and Dennis Mercurio all registered two hits apiece, Franzen and Mercurio with two RBI and a triple.
Scott (16-12) used up all their bullets in a 10-9, victory over Bishop Brossart in the semifinals on Saturday. Trailing 9-7 and down to their last out, Blake Groneck hit a three-run, walkoff double to win it over the Mustangs.
The Eagles were limited to three hits by Schumacher, Trey Cook with the lone RBI. Brock Ronnebaum and Jay Race pitched two innings each, combining to allow 12 hits, 11 earned runs, walking six and striking out six.
Both teams head to the 10th Region Tournament, expected to begin on Monday at Campbell County.