Baseball: Shamrocks Lose to Seminoles 6-5
WOODSFIELD — The visiting Barnesville Shamrocks (18-7 overall) finished the 2026 regular season in a gripping but heartbreaking loss to the Monroe Central Seminoles (13-12) Friday evening. After seven full innings, the final score was 6-5.
In the top of the first, senior Max Miller’s score made it 1-0 early to give the Rox the lead. Max Demchak, on the mound for Monroe Central, managed to strike out Barnesville’s Gunner Dudzik with two Shamrocks stranded on base going into the bottom.
Junior Blake Burkart was the starting Shamrocks pitcher. His only strikeout of the game came in the bottom of the first. With two outs, the Seminoles’ Mason Landefeld hit an RBI double that allowed Caedyn Silva to score.
In the top of the second, Barnesville was unable to add any runs with two runners in scoring position. In the bottom, Burkhart walked two Monroe Central’s batters, and an RBI single from Silva gave the home team a 2-1 lead.
The Shamrocks responded to the challenge in the third. With Burkhart on second base, Dylan Blon recorded an RBI double that allowed him to cross the home plate.
Dudzik recorded a double, and Cole Atkinson brought him home with an RBI single. Later, with the bases loaded, a final earned run from Atkinson on third base made the score 4-2. The Seminoles were unable to score in the bottom of the third.
Likewise, Barnesville couldn’t get the bats going in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and second, Demchak again delivered with an RBI double to reduce the lead to 4-3.
Complementing Demchak was Silva who tallied a two RBI double, lifting his team to a 5-4 going into the fifth.
Preston Binegar stepped in as relief pitcher for the Seminoles in the fifth. He performed well collecting a strikeout and his infielders kept the Shamrocks from getting to home plate.
Barnesville’s Burkhart was replaced by sophomore Bobby Thompson in the fifth, the Shamrocks preventing the Seminoles from scoring.
Barnesville tied the contest in the top of the sixth following an error at third base. Junior Parker Sobutka became the second reliever for Barnesville. He tallied a strikeout and the defense kept Monroe Central at bay.
The Shamrocks were unable to get on the board again. Monroe Central’s last run came as a result of a base hit and RBI by Brayden Baker bringing Landefeld in to score for a 6-5 win.
Next Wednesday, May 20, Barnesville will face the Indian Valley Braves in Gnadenhutten in preparation for the first tournament game on May 26. The first pitch is is set for 5:30 p.m.
The Seminoles are also on the road next Wednesday facing the Buckeye Trail Warriors at Old Washington for their first tournament game.
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