Baseball: Barnesville Falls to Harrison Central in Eighth Inning
CADIZ — The Barnesville Shamrocks’ superb season ended after a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the Harrison Central Huskies Tuesday night.
This game was the Division V Regional Semifinal contest in the 2026 Baseball State Championships. Going into the game, Barnesville was one of 16 teams statewide seeking the title.
The game was played at Mazeroski Field in Cadiz, Ohio. Starting on the mound for the Rox was senior Dylan Blon. He recorded six strikeouts on five hits and only walked two Huskies.
“I love every guy who comes through our program,” coach D.J. Butler said regarding Blon’s performance after the game ended.
Both team’s starting pitchers played the entire game. Harrison Central’s Colton Rutter, its starting pitcher, recorded seven strikeouts on five hits while walking a Shamrock.
The offense for Barnesville started early. A RBI double by Blon allowed for senior Max Miller to score at home. With two runners on base, Harrison Central was able to escape the top of the first without any more runs scored.
For most of the evening, the Shamrocks and the Huskies struggled with taking advantage of runners in scoring position. Harrison Central would benefit from this in the final inning, but Barnesville simply couldn’t convert on those opportunities.
“I should’ve bunted Blake (Burkhart) before,” Butler said. “I got to do better and hats off to them. Coach Velasco did a great job, and he was a great coach.”
The Huskies eventually got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third after an RBI single that was only made possible by an error in Barnesville’s infield.
Sophomore shortstop Gunner Dudzik was credited for the error, but Butler made it well known after that Dudzik wasn’t the reason for the loss.
“Gunner came back and made some great plays,” Butler said. “He just refocused and went back out on the field.”
Given the final score, the Shamrocks just couldn’t find a way to score any more runs. The pitching by Blon and those in the infield and outfield did their respective jobs, but the Huskies made the right play at the right time.
In the bottom of the eighth, an RBI single to deep left field clinched the victory for Harrison Central.
“They got a timely hit, and we couldn’t scrap together or hit when we had runners on early,” Butler said. “We couldn’t string anything together later on.”
Barnesville’s 2026 varsity baseball season ended at 22-8 winning the district title—its second championship since the 2024 season. The Shamrocks lose four key players, but will retain a lot of good talent going into the next year.
As for Harrison Central (20-9-1), they advance to the 2026 Division V Regional Final Championship where they will face the Valley Local Indians (Lucasville) at Marietta High School. That game is scheduled for Thursday, June 4 at 5 p.m.
Barnesville Area News Needs Your Support!
We're dedicated to providing coverage of the local happenings in Barnesville and the neighboring communities.
As a non-profit entity, we rely on the donations of readers like you.
Make a donation today and you'll be helping keep local news alive in the Barnesville area.