Jake Luling set the tone for the Orange offense, going 3-for-5 with five RBIs, including this solo shot in the fourth inning. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Jake Luling whacked a bases-clearing double in a pivotal second inning, lifting the Pioneers to a 12-4 rout of Newark in a Division I regional title game. Luling finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
Lancaster, OH – There was a time in mid- to late-April when Olentangy Orange had the appearances of a rather mediocre baseball team. Before a game at rival Olentangy Liberty, coach Tom Marker wondered aloud why a reporter was bothering to cover his team.
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It remains to be seen whether Marker was playing possum or trying his Lou Holtz impersonation on for size, but the Pioneers beat the top-ranked team in the state 6-2 on that day and, for the most part, have been flying high ever since.
After opening the season 3-4, Orange steamrolled its way into its third state final four by winning 15 straight games and 21 of 22. The Pioneers walloped upstart Newark 12-4 to capture a Division I regional title on Thursday at Beavers Field.
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State runner-up in 2023, Orange (24-5) will face Cincinnati St. Xavier (25-5) at 7 p.m. June 11 at 7 17 Credit Union Park (formerly known as Canal Park) in Akron. The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. June 12 at the same venue.
“With the skill level we had and all the athletes we had from other sports who have been very successful, believe me, we had very high expectations going into the season,” junior outfielder Jake Luling said.
Added senior third baseman Xavier Aguila, “I don’t think there was ever any big turning point. We all believe in each other and just stayed the course. The coaches kept us together. It was just a matter of putting it all together.”
Marker insisted that his team wasn’t exactly struggling early – all five defeats have come by one run – but trusted the process and eventually took off.
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Orange starting pitcher Reid Hemrick delivers a pitch early in the game against Newark.
“We always think we’re capable. That’s just in our DNA,” he said. “So many of our players have been successful in other sports and they know what it takes to be a championship game, not only on a performance level but in helping each other and picking up a teammate when he might be struggling. The moment is never too big for these guys.”
Orange called on its ace, Reid Hemrick, just two days after he threw 30 pitches in relief to close out a 3-2 semifinal win over Olentangy. Playing before a slew of college coaches (he decommitted from Eastern Michigan recently due to uncertainty in the coaching staff), Hemrick – 6-0 with a 0.76 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 57 innings pitched – was not his usual razor-sharp self, allowing four runs and eight hits in five innings. But his teammates picked him up in a big way.
A pivotal moment occurred in the second inning with Newark leading 1-0.
After Orange loaded the bases with one out, Griffin Zavislak hit a chopper that had the looks of a potential inning-ending double play. But baserunner Jaxen Miller was ruled to have interfered with the throw of third baseman Trenton Wilson and was called out.
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Newark’s defenders ran off the field, confident they had gotten out of the inning. But after a lengthy discussion, the umpires ruled that the play was dead at the moment the interference occurred and that the runner from third who apparently scored should return to third.
While the team celebrated, Orange head coach Tom Marker knew that the job was not yet finished. He’ll need to get his squad dialed in for two more games.
Moments later, Luling ripped a bases-clearing three-run double to the right-centerfield gap.
“During that delay, coach just told me to stay focused because I was still going to bat,” Luling said. “He knew what the rule was. That was just a case of them punching us and us punching them right back. And that happened a few times today.”
Luling also hit a bases-empty homer in the fourth to make it 6-1. He finished 3-for-5 with five RBI.
Newark (21-8), which had advanced to only its second regional final ever and first since 2006, battled all day long. The Wildcats parlayed a walk and four straight singles into two runs to cut a big deficit to 6-4, but left the bases loaded.
In the sixth, Orange loaded the bases and Aguila deftly hit an outside pitch down the right field line for two-RBI double, then Nick Vicars added a two-run single to put the game out of reach.
Xavier Aguila is fired up after ripping a ball down the first base line for a two-RBI double.
Minus senior standout centerfielder Bodie Smith, who suffered a torn ACL on a freakish non-contact play in the outfield during a 1-0 shutout of Olentangy Liberty Tuesday, Newark – just the No. 7 seed in the district tournament — hit the ball hard but couldn’t counteract Orange’s potent attack. Three Wildcats pitchers hit seven batters and walked two others.
All nine Pioneers starters reached base at least once.
Luke Miller drove in three runs for the Wildcats while Moses Crane collected three hits and Kodie Steele two.
“We hit their guy pretty good … we smoked a lot of balls, but couldn’t get the clutch hits when we needed them,” Newark coach Mike Wheeler said. “They took advantage of every base we gave them.
“This stings right now, but we can’t hang our hat on the result of one game. We went on a heck of a run and they really wanted to accomplished something that hadn’t been done in 20 years here.”
The Pioneers go full dogpile after beating the Wildcats for a Final Four berth.
Orange, meanwhile, will head to Akron trying to put another banner on the wall.
After dropping regional finals the previous two seasons, the boys basketball team captured its first state title in 2025, and the football team followed suit nine months later with a 15-0 record. Among Marker’s regulars, Jake and Colby Luling, Zane Konczak and Jaxen Miller all played on the football team and Aguila was a basketball starter.
Orange players celebrate after punching their ticket to the state final four in Akron.