Regional baseball: Springboro tops Elder, D-I final on deck

Fooled once, Cameron Snurr wasn’t going to let that happen again.

“I swung on a bad one that was outside and I knew he was going to give me another fastball,” Springboro’s third baseman said of Cincinnati Elder reliever Aidan Byrne. “I just punched it to left field looking to not try and do too much.”

What Snurr did was deliver the Panthers into program history. His sacrifice fly sent Calvin Walters racing home with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Springboro rallied to stun Elder 4-3 in a boys high school baseball Division I regional semifinal on Thursday night.

»» RELATED: Butler falls to Turpin

Springboro (25-6) will play Cincinnati Turpin (18-10) in the D-I regional final also at the University of Cincinnati’s Marge Schott Stadium at 5 p.m. Friday. The winner advances to next week’s state final four at Akron’s Canal Park. No area D-I team has done that since Miamisburg in 2006.

Turpin advanced by eliminating Butler 4-2 in Thursday’s regional semi doubleheader opener. Springboro last played in a regional in 2002 and that was Division II. The Panthers have never played in a state final four.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Springboro rallied for two runs to post the biggest win in program history. Senior Logan Zier drew a bases-loaded walk to score Adam Berry and draw the teams even at 3-all. That set up Snurr and he delivered.

»» TORNADO FALLOUT: Youth facilities take a hit

Jake D’Amico and Zier each had two hits and Ben Barber scored twice for the Panthers. Reliever Austin Fawley (10-0) earned the win, going the last scoreless inning. Elder, a storied program out of the Greater Catholic League South that has won 11 big-school state titles, finished 21-10.

»» RELATED: Regional semis on deck for Boro, Butler

“I don’t get too excited very often and I jumped up and down after we scored,” said Springboro coach Mark Pelfrey, who didn’t quite dodge a celebratory ice bucket delivered by teammates afterward. “I was jumping. It’s great and hopefully we can find a way to win one more and move on to Akron.”

»» RELATED: Springfield senior overcomes setback

»» RELATED: Butler stuns mighty Mason

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»» BUTLER RECORD SETTER: “I was shakin’ everywhere”

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