Over the course of the past two seasons, Clinton-Massie and Ross have played twice, each team winning a game.
So Thursday’s Division II Dayton 2 sectional championship will break the tie.
“It’ll be the rubber game,” CM head coach Brian Camp said. “Hopefully we can make it two out of three.”
First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Thursday at Hamilton High School. The winner advances to the Div. II Cincinnati I District championship game 11 a.m. Saturday at Mason High School against either New Richmond or Indian Hill.
Clinton-Massie (20-8 on the year) defeated Ross 6-2 in last season’s sectional tournament. The Rams opened the 2017 season with an 8-1 win over the Falcons.
Ross is ranked No. 5 in this week’s Div. II state baseball poll. The Rams are 22-4 on the year.
Drew Huffman and Thomas House have been a strong 1-2 punch on the mound for the Rams. House is 7-0 with 97 strikeouts in 50.1 innings while Huffman is 5-1 with 61 strikeouts in 47 innings.
Huffman also is the leading hitter on the Ross squad, with a .395 batting average. He has 25 runs batted in.
In all, seven players hit better than .300 for the Rams. Zach Arno hit .387 and has the only homerun for RHS.
For Clinton-Massie, Camp didn’t have the last three games recorded but said Aric France was the team leader with a .423 batting average.
Noah Greathouse, the top pitcher for the Falcons, hit .405 this year with 26 runs batted in. Of his 16 extra-base hits, four were homeruns.
Max Murray and Luke Richardson both hit .378 — Murray drove in 20 runs and Richardson stole 13 bases. David Poynter and Jacob Wolf also hit over .300 for Clinton-Massie.
