MASON, Ohio - For the first time since 2016, the Walsh Cavaliers baseball team is headed to the 2022 Great Midwest Baseball Championship Final. Walsh was last in the conference final in 2016 as a member of the GLIAC. 

Walsh dispatched Kentucky Wesleyan 7-1 on Friday (May 13) at Prasco Park in the semifinal. The Cavaliers have won eight straight games, dating back to the 2019 season. 

In the first inning, Walsh left the bases loaded before Kentucky Wesleyan added a run on a double play. The Panthers led 1-0 after one inning.

Two innings later, the Cavaliers tied the game. Shea Simmer doubled to left field and scored when Brady Maciak singled to right field. On the play, the right fielder bobbled the ball and Simmer came around to score on the play. 

To open the fourth, Austin Marko delivered a leadoff blast to left field as Walsh took a 2-1 lead. 

A three-run fifth inning gave Walsh some more breathing room. Simmer doubled to right field and Maciak followed with a hit by pitch. Joey Holiga doubled home both runners to left field as Kentucky Wesleyan made a pitching change. A groundout and a sacrifice fly by Jacob Beachy allowed Holiga to score. 

Jarret Lyon doubled home a run in the seventh inning for a 6-1 lead. 

The eighth inning saw Walsh close the scoring. Marko singled up the middle and reached second on an error on a fielder's choice. Andrew Morse walked to load the bases with one out. Simmer lifted a fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly. 

Walsh totaled 12 hits with the top four of the lineup tallying nine hits. Simmer doubled twice and scored twice. Maciak, Lyon and Marko all had two hits while Holiga had three hits. 

Alex Beyerle paced the Cavaliers with seven innings of one-run ball. He scattered six hits and five strikeouts. Cole Brogan threw two innings of shutout baseball to close the game. 

Walsh will play in the 2022 Great Midwest Championship at 12:00 PM on Saturday (May 14) against the winner of Friday's Ashland-Kentucky Wesleyan loser's bracket final. 

-WC-