ONTARIO — It’s not how you start, but how you finish.
It’s a mantra both Ontario and St. Marys Memorial have lived by for the past couple of weeks.
The Warriors (14-14) and Roughriders (15-13) have taken strikingly similar paths to this week’s Division II Bowling Green regional tournament. The teams will meet in the early game of a Division II regional semifinal doubleheader at 2 p.m. Thursday at Carter Park.
The Warriors started the season with four straight losses and were 3-9 after a 5-2 loss to Triway on April 15, their fifth straight loss. The Roughriders of the Western Buckeye League were 2-7 after an 11-3 loss to Defiance on April 11, their fourth consecutive setback.
St. Marys Memorial tied for third in the WBL standings with Lima Bath behind WBL champ Wapakoneta and Defiance. The Roughriders beat Wapakoneta 2-0 in the district semifinals before dispatching Upper Sandusky 9-3 in the Bluffton district championship game.
Ontario needed a walk-off win over Sandusky in the sectional semifinals, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 victory. The eighth-seeded Warriors then upset No. 2 Sandusky Perkins 6-5 in nine innings in the sectional final, No. 3 Shelby — a team Ontario lost to twice during the regular season — 7-2 in the district semifinals and No. 4 Clyde 5-2 in the Fremont district final.
The Warriors are led by Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference first-teamers Gage and Carter Walters. Gage, an Ashland University-bound senior, hit .402 during the regular season. Carter, a junior, batted .476 and led the MOAC in slugging percentage (.659).
Peyton Dzugan has picked up two tournament wins on the mound. The junior has allowed four hits in 14 innings with 19 strikeouts.
Carter Weaver and Carter Walters combined for 10 strikeouts in the nine-inning win over Perkins. Weaver went the distance in the district semifinal victory over Shelby, striking out six and scattering six hits.
St. Marys Memorial scored six runs in the first inning of its district championship win over Upper Sandusky en route to its first district title in more than 20 years. The Roughriders had only two hits in the frame, but took advantage of three walks and a hit batsman.
The winner of Thursday’s early game will play either Defiance or Bay for a regional title at 5 p.m. Friday in Bowling Green. Defiance and Bay meet in Thursday’s late game at Carter Park.
