Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs take down Portsmouth to move on to district finals

CHILLICOTHE — Tuesday in the Division V SE District Semifinals in Chillicothe at VA Memorial Stadium, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs prevailed with team play, hustle and a cool demeanor in a 3-1 victory against the Portsmouth Trojans, advancing to the district finals for a third consecutive season. 

Against the No. 6 seeded Trojans (20-9) on Tuesday, the Mustangs (21-6) totaled six hits, while Portsmouth had eight hits on the day, but a big difference in the game was the fact LCHS sophomore pitcher Quin Wells had no walks, no hit batters and he allowed just one earned run on eight hits in the seven innings pitched. For good measure, the sophomore ace struck out six batters on 98 pitches (61 strikes) with 26 batters faced. 

Portsmouth had three pitchers take the mound for their combined six innings of work, where they allowed six hits, three earned runs, and they walked four batters, plus hit two more batters. In all, Trojans pitching collected four strikeouts. 

“[Wells] struggled early. I took that mound visit in the first inning. I think he had adrenaline just rushing, and I said, 'Hey, I know you like to work fast, but right now you need to take a deep breath and slow down and let this game come to you. Quit trying to go at it so hard,’” Lynchburg-Clay head coach James Flowers said. “I was pretty happy, he settled in and just mowed from there.”

The Trojans were first to score in the game with their only run to cross the plate coming in the top of the first when Jacob Roth led off with a double down the third base line to left field, then he moved to third on a bunt single off the bat of Landon Malone. Roth in the next at-bat scored on a passed ball in the third pitch of the at-bat on a 2-0 count for the 1-0 lead. 

Then there were the first two outs recorded when senior catcher Elam Faust threw out a runner attempting to steal third, followed by a called third strike in the at-bat for the second out of the inning. 

“It’s what you expect from a four-year or three-year varsity starter. I mean, he’s been around this program, obviously played on some big teams, very good teams, and that's just what I expect from him. He's a baller,” Flowers said of Faust. 

In the inning Flowers walked to the mound (following a two-out double) and had a mound visit with his team, calming things down, and that’s when things started to go the way of the Mustangs. The inning ended with Faust, again, showcasing his arm and awareness behind the plate, as he threw out another runner attempting to steal third base to end the inning. 

In their first trip to the plate, the Mustangs opened up with a base hit to centerfield by Harley Lewis (1-for-4, one run) to lead off the bottom half of the first, followed by a single by Faust, as the senior had a bunt single to third base, moving Lewis to second. Faust finished 2-for-3 with two runs and a steal. 

Wells (1-for-2) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and with no outs and going to the fourth batter of the inning, Portsmouth made a pitching change. Even with the change in pitchers, the Mustangs tied the score at 1-1 as Trevor Niehaus grounded out to the shortstop for an RBI as Lewis scored from third base, and both Faust and Wells advanced a base. 

The bases were loaded with a walk on five pitches forced by Tanner Roberts, then the Mustangs scored the go-ahead run with Caden Boone (1-for-2) being hit by a pitch on a 3-1 count for an RBI as Faust scored from third for a 2-1 lead. 

Wells struck out the side in the top of the second with all three strikeouts being the swinging variety as Wells overcame a two-out single by Portsmouth. 

Then in the next two half innings, both the Trojans and Mustangs each converted a 6-3 double play with PHS ending the inning with a ball hit to the shortstop Roth as he stepped on second base and threw the ball to first baseman Eli Roth for the first and second outs of the bottom of the second inning. 

In the top of the third, the Mustangs defense repeated the double play as LCHS ended the inning with shortstop Lewis stepping on second after fielding a ground ball and throwing to first baseman Max Baker. 

LCHS took a 3-1 lead as the last run of the game crossed the plate when Faust (who led off the inning with a single) scored on a passed ball with one out, Faust reached second on a single by Wells and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Niehaus. 

In the top of the seventh, the game, now with rain falling from the skies, ended with a fly ball hit to left field, a strikeout with a throw to first base and a called third strike thrown by Wells, who let out an emotion-filled scream and fist pump once the final strikeout was called as he walked off the mound for the win. 

“Ultimately today the game came down to, even though we lost the hit battle, I call it free 90s. We definitely had a few more free 90s than they did, whether we got walked or hit by a pitch,” Flowers said. “We found a way to get guys on base, and when we got them on base, we got some timely hits, which helped us score some runs.

“I preached all morning before we practiced, before we came — we’ve got to get a lead, and we've got to get it early. We had a good idea Mother Nature was going to deal us a treat later in this game. She delivered, as I figured, and I knew runs were going to become very important, as it was going to get slick out there on the turf. 

“That third run was huge, big time, big time,” Flowers continued. “So much so, I wanted the fourth run on a squeeze play, but you know, sometimes you make good coaching choices, sometimes you make bad ones, and I'll own that one.”

For the Trojans, Jacob Roth was 3-for-3 with one run. PHS teammates Landon Malone, Trevin Brooks, Eli Roth, Braxton Carr and Logan Adkins each finished 1-for-3 at the plate with Jacob Roth and Brooks each hitting a double. Jacob Roth and Adkins each had a stolen base. 

Also having a hit for the Mustangs was Kristian Beachy at 1-for-2, while Luke Davis had two steals. Roberts totaled two walks, and Aric Slack also walked once. 

Last season the Mustangs (20-6) won a district (along with a regional) championship, and the season before that the Mustangs were district runners-up. Now for a third straight season, No. 3 seeded Lynchburg-Clay will be playing for a district title. That game will be taking place this Thursday (May 28) at Wren Stadium in Athens — at Ohio University — with a 4:30 p.m. start against the No. 2 seeded Valley (Lucasville) Indians, who are 19-7 overall.

The Mustangs have defeated Valley twice in the past two postseasons, winning in the district finals last season (2025) by a 4-3 score, and the previous year (2024) they defeated VHS 3-1 in the district round. Valley defeated Northwest on Tuesday (May 26) by a 6-1 score in their district semifinal game.  

“If you can play in the district championship game in the Southeast District, you're doing pretty good in baseball, so we’re happy to be there first of all, but anybody who knows me, I want to go there and I want to win,” Flowers said. “I want to try to find my way back into that regional tournament. Once you get to the regionals, you never know what's going to happen. A couple games of magic, you can find your way to Akron, but we're going to play hard. We'll start looking at Valley, putting some things together, and we'll be ready to go on Thursday.”

BOX SCORE
PHS      100 000 0 — 1 8 0 
LCHS    200 010 x — 3 6 0