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2026 OHSAA Tournament: Division V State Final - #1 Waynedale vs Columbus Academy

AKRON -Waynedale made it four state championships in a five-year period with a 9-5 win over Columbus Academy in the Division V finals on Friday afternoon.

"There are a lot of different factors," explained head coach Lucas Daugherty, who is now 162-32 in his six years in charge of the program. "It starts with the community, our parents, our players. We've got players coming into high school with a lot of baseball under their belts. We have a community that loves baseball, so that's a factor.

"We also have a group willing to work hard, be disciplined. We have high expectations for the players and they embrace it. They work hard year round for moments like this."

Tied at 1-1, the Golden Bears took the lead in the fifth on a two-out double by Hudson Barkman to bring in Logan Troyer who led off the inning with a two-base hit. But Columbus Academy put three on the board in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single from Dominic Dunkle and a two-run triple from Cooper Leibas.

The top-ranked team in the state evened the game with two in the top of the sixth, highlighted by run-scoring hits from Brayden Steiner and Troyer, then took control with a five-run seventh featuring two hits, three walks, a hit batter and a sac fly. Barkman drove in Jordan Miller to give the Golden Bears the lead for good for the biggest hit of the inning.

"This group has no quit," related Barkman, whose older brother Trey was a member of the 2022 and 2023 state championship teams at the school. "There's no such thing as quit and that's something very special. No matter the score we're always even keel and that's huge in games like this."

The ability to come from behind is a big reason why Waynedale is the program it has become under Daugherty.

"It starts in the regular season," the Waynedale mentor noted. "We try to load our schedule with as good of competition as we can. We have the belief we will keep fighting to the end and not panic or worry about the outcome. We're trying to win each play at a time. This group has embraced that and it makes it possible to come back like that."

Steiner went the distance for the victory, fanning seven while allowing seven hits and four walks.

"He's a senior that's a tough-nosed competitor," Daugherty said. "He didn't want to come out. It was neat to see him go the distance."

Seven different players had at least one hit for Waynedale, which closes out at 30-3.

"One through nine we have a bunch of guys tha are gritty and able to grind out at-bats," Daugherty said. "When the bottom does that and it gets back to the top we get a lot of confidence. It really takes all nine in the batting order through the whole game to win it."

The senior duo of Dominic Dunkle and Leibas had big games for the Vikings, Dunkle with three walks, a single, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base while Leibas had a single and triple with four RBIs.

HOT TAKES

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Troyer had four hits, including a double, while driving in a run for the state champions, which pounded out 11 hits in the game. A year ago, Troyer threw a five-hit shutout to beat St. Paris Graham 3-0 in the state finals. 

D-V TOURNEY MVP: Barkman went 3-4 and drove in two runs in a 7-2 win over Lucasville Valley in the semifinals and followed that up with a 2-3 performance versus Columbus Academy, bringing in two more teammates while scoring once.

WHAT'S NEXT?: The entire infield except the catcher are back for Columbus Academy with a  pair of freshmen, Kevin Klingerman and Ethan Parish, starters at first and right field, respectively, expected to be a big part of the pitching staff for the Vikings, which started the season 0-5 and also lost five of their last six regular-season games before getting hot in the tourney. ... Two outfielders, both corner infielders and the catcher are returnees for Waynedale in the quest to make it five titles in a six-year period.

LINESCORE

Waynedale               000  112  5  -  9  11  0
Columbus Academy 100  030  0  -  5   7  0

Records: Waynedale 30-3, Columbus Academy 17-17.

Winning Pitcher: Brayden Steiner (7 innings, 5 runs, 7 hits, 7 strikeouts, 4 walks).

Losing Pitcher: Kevin Klingerman (1 inning, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 2 hits, 2 strikeouts, 3 walks). Others: Dominic Dunkle, William Donohue.

Leading Hitters: (Waynedale) - Brayden Steiner double, 2 runs, RBI; Alex Brumfield run; Logan Troyer 3 singles, double, RBI; Jordan Miller single, 2 runs; Hudson Barkman single, double, run, 2 RBIs; Brock Reifsnyder single, run, RBI; Collin McGlothlin single, run, RBI; Maddox Kidd single, run. (Columbus Academy) - Dominc Dunkle single, 2 runs, RBI, 3 walks; Trey Ransom single, run; Cooper Leibas single, triple, 4 RBIs; Kevin Klingerman single; Thomas Rubey double; Ethan Parish run; Anthony Penney single, run.

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