Photo by Andrew Grimm Edison head coach Mike Collopy high-fives Evan Kimmerle after he scored the first run of Tuesday's regional semifinal. Edison won, 2-0, over Minerva at Mazeroski Field in Cadiz to advance to the regional championship game Thursday at Ohio University.

CADIZ — The Edison baseball team has shined when the pressure has been at its highest all season. That clutch gene has helped keep their tournament run going deeper than any Edison team in neatly two decades.

The Wildcats found a way to come out on top of another close battle on Tuesday afternoon in the regional semifinals, plating a run each in the second and sixth innings to support a gem on the mound from Bryce Rogers in a 2-0 victory over Minerva at a sunny Mazeroski Park in Cadiz.

“We had some timely hits, we found a way again,” Edison head coach Mike Collopy said. “They’re a real good team and they have a really good pitcher, so we didn’t expect anything other than a close battle all the way through. I’m really proud of our guys staying composed and being really competitive.

“We’re just ecstatic. We’re moving on to the next game and that’s all that matters now, it doesn’t matter how you do it. These guys are a special group of kids and our coaches are unbelievable.”

Edison advances to the Division IV, Region 15 championship game on Thursday in Athens at Ohio University’s Bob Wren Stadium. It is the first regional final appearance for the Wildcats since 2007.

The now-22-8 Wildcats found themselves in another close game, which seems to right where they are comfortable. In the tournament so far, they’ve won two one-run games, including an extra innings comeback in the district semis, and their district final was a one-run game until they added some late insurance. All told, they’ve won 12 games this season decided by three runs or less, seven one-run games.

Edison took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Evan Kimmerle led off with a double and Kayden Russell came up clutch with a two-out RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

That remained the score until the sixth as Rogers and Minerva senior ace Braydon Wood dueled on the mound, getting out of jams and putting up zeroes.

Edison had seven hits going to the bottom of the sixth but just the one run to show for it. That is, until Rogers, who had ended the last five-straight innings with a strikeout, helped his own cause with a two-out RBI single to plate Kyle Long and make it 2-0.

Rogers walked a couple of batters with two outs in the seventh trying to finish a complete game and hit the pitch limit, but Long came on with the tying run aboard and got the final out to strand two runners, lock up the save and send the Wildcats into the regional final.

Rogers finished with 14 strikeouts and allowed just one hit.

Thursday’s regional championship game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start in Athens. The Wildcats, ranked No. 15 in the final Ohio Prep Baseball Coaches Association poll, will take on Lancaster Fairfield Union with a trip to the state tournament in Akron on the line. The Falcons are ranked No. 11 in the state and are 23-6 on the season.

SOFTBALL

WVSSAC Class AAA Tournament

Winfield 8, Brooke 0

PikeView 4, Brooke 1

CHARLESTON — The Bruins are exiting the WVSSAC State Softball Tournament after suffering a pair of losses Tuesday inside South Charleston’s Little Creek Park.

Against Winfield, the Bruins fell behind 3-0 after the first inning and 6-0 after two. Winfield’s Mattie Carroll threw a perfect game through the abbreviated five-inning matchup.

Against PikeView, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead after the top of the first following a sacrifice fly by Keira Kosut, scoring Maggie Diserio, but PikeView tied the game in the bottom of the second. The Panthers tacked on three runs in the fifth inning to pull away.

Eden McKinney was tagged with the loss, striking out three across six innings.

Diserio led the Bruins’ offense with a hit and two walks.

Brooke finishes the season with an 18-18 record.

(Late Monday)

Colerain 2, Bethany 0

MARTINS FERRY – Carson Gorby pitched a 4-hit complete game for the Hitmen and Danny Goff doubled to drive in both runs. Jake Stoner led Bethany with two singles. Colerain will host Maynard Wednesday with the first pitch at 6 p.m.