Harrison Central baseball off to hot start, earns statewide recognition

It’s early, but the Harrison Central Huskies baseball program seems to be on pace to meet those lofty preseason expectations. Through nine games and two weeks of the regular season, the Huskies have put together an impressive 8-1 record.

A hot start that is already gaining plenty of attention statewide, as the Huskies were ranked No. 4 in the Division V Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association poll released April 13.

On a more local level, the Huskies are ranked No. 2 in the OVAC 4A championship standings, trailing only the undefeated Indian Creek Redskins, whom they are scheduled to play twice this week (April 15 and April 17).

Since returning home from Florida, the Huskies have swept series with the Buckeye Local Panthers and the East Liverpool Potters. A down-to-the-wire 4-2 road victory over the Beaver Local Beavers serves as the most competitive of the five-game span.

In the two series sweeps, the Huskies outscored the Panthers and Potters by a combined tally of 42-8. Junior Gage Stoneking (Buckeye), and a trio of sophomores in Hunter Snyder (Beaver), Zayden Warrington (East Liverpool), and Zach Harbold (East Liverpool) earned pitching victories across the second week of the season. Senior Colten Rutter was responsible for the other victory over Buckeye Local dating back to April 6.

Speaking of Rutter, the senior was dealing against the St. Clairsville Red Devils last Saturday morning at Memorial Park. While the Huskies suffered their first setback of 2026 by way of a 5-4 heartbreaker, it certainly wasn’t due to the pitching performance. Rutter gave up just two earned runs and one walk, meaning the sixth-inning 3-1 lead the Huskies briefly enjoyed would have held firm absent a pair of costly late-game mishaps.

The Huskies scored the first run of the game in the top of the second inning, as Rutter lifted a fly ball into left and then worked his way to third with opportunistic baserunning.

What happened next was a work of art. Junior Cash Meadows drew a walk and then took an intentionally large lead to bait a throw to first. Rutter broke from third to home when St. Clairsville pitcher Hunter Florence attempted the pickoff before noticing the Huskies had put a planned play in motion. Rutter beat the second throw to the plate to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

St. Clairsville tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of an infield error. The fifth inning passed quietly for both teams, but the sixth was anything but.

In the top half, Stoneking singled to reach base, and Hunter Snyder doubled to right to score him. A hard-hit ground ball to short by Rutter forced an error that allowed Snyder to score. The Huskies were six outs away from an 8-0 start, but the Red Devils responded. The home team strung together two singles and took advantage of two infield errors to tie the game.

The final inning turned the early-season contest into an instant classic.

The Huskies recorded two hits in their first three at-bats in the seventh, as sophomore Lance Smith and Stoneking reached with singles. Sophomore Kolton Mizer added a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Smith to give the Huskies a 4-3 lead.

However, as in the sixth inning, the momentum was short-lived. St. Clairsville’s Niko Jacob and Matheson King tied the game at 4-4 with a single-double combination. A hit batter followed, Rutter was relieved by Stoneking, and a four-pitch walk loaded the bases.

Hunter Florence then delivered the final blow — a walk-off single that brought the St. Clairsville bench onto the field.

The Red Devils and Huskies will meet again at Mazeroski Field on April 21.

The Huskies are scheduled to face Indian Creek twice this week, along with a return game against Beaver Local and a doubleheader against Bellaire on April 18 at Mazeroski Field.