The Delaware Hayes boys lacrosse team went through the full range of emotions Tuesday night, scoring the equalizer with 15.9 seconds left in regulation only to fall to visiting Avon, 10-9, in sudden-death overtime just a few minutes later.
The fifth-seeded Pacers had a handful of chances to even things up after the Eagles’ Adam Ferarra found Evan Barton for a score to give their team a 9-8 edge with 7:06 left in the fourth quarter of the Division I, Region 1 tournament opener in Delaware.
After turning it over twice in its own end, Hayes found itself running out of time in a hurry. The Pacers nearly evened things up with two minutes left, but Gavin Fligner came up with a clutch save on a shot from Cooper Heald to keep the Eagles in front.
An Avon crease violation with 43 seconds left gave the ball back to the Pacers, though, and this time they took advantage of the opportunity as Ty Gillman sprinted into the offensive end and found Shane Manor open just to the left of the crease. Manor took it from there, ripping a shot into the back of the net to make it a 9-9 game with 15.9 seconds left.
Hayes nearly won it early in the extra session, but never got the ball back after a rocket from Gillman hit the post and bounced all the way to midfield.
The Eagles’ Cam Wagner then ended things, snaking through the Pacer defense and scoring with 40 seconds left to seal the deal.
Avon got off the bus ready to play, scoring the first two goals of the game — both set up by Hayes penalties.
The Pacers settled down after that, though, scoring six of the next seven to take a 6-3 lead into the second quarter. Sam Schumacher scored three of the goals while Hunter Piroska, Clay Knight and Manor had the others.
Avon controlled the second quarter to get back into things, outscoring Hayes 4-0 to take a 7-6 lead into halftime before adding another when Wagner scored with 10:01 left in the third to make it an 8-6 game.
The Pacers answered with a deep rocket from Piroska before Eli Watts scored off a nice feed from Manor to beat the third-quarter buzzer and even things at eight heading into the fourth, but fell just short of completing the comeback.
Next up, 13th-seeded Avon will take on fourth-seeded Olmsted Falls, which beat Olentangy Orange 16-9 in its tournament opener. The second-round showdown is set for Friday at a time and site to be determined.
Olentangy 14, Anthony Wayne 3
Mike Parsio scored a game-best five goals and assisted on three others to lead the Braves to a convincing win over the visiting Generals in the first round of the Division I, Region 1 tournament Tuesday night in Lewis Center.
Ryan Petrone was also solid in the win, collecting three goals, three assists and four ground balls.
Next up, Olentangy will take on Olentangy Liberty, which cruised past Sylvania Northview in its opener, Friday night in Powell.
SOFTBALL
Ninth-seeded Buckeye Valley took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth, but third-seeded Heath answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame before Kaitlyn Jardine put the finishing touches on a 6-2 Division II district semifinal win with a walk-off grand slam in the seventh Tuesday night in Heath.
After the Barons went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs went to work in the bottom half. Lily Williams reached on a bunt single to get things started and, after BV’s Liz Hamilton was able to retire the next two batters, Shelby Flynn doubled and Remee Cunningham walked to load the bases.
Jardine took it from there, emptying the bases and lifting Heath into Thursday’s district championship against second-seed Bloom-Carroll by clearing the left field fence.
Hamilton, who has been unhittable at times this season, limited the last six hitters in the Bulldogs’ lineup to a single hit. It was the top of the order that gave her problems as Flynn finished 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI from the leadoff spot, Cunningham was 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI from the two hole and Jardine, the third batter in the lineup, finished 2-for-4 with four RBI.
Anika Craft and Lilly Irvine led the Barons at the dish. Craft finished 3-for-4 with an RBI while Irvine’s solo homer in the fifth gave her team a brief 2-1 edge.
