The last two people in the NorthWood baseball dugout Saturday, June 6, were head coach Zach Benko and the Panthers’ lone senior Ryder Ransberger. All of the Panthers players, coaches and fans had left the facility, and the two sat on the bench alone.
They reflected on NorthWood’s past two seasons. It wasn’t a moment shared in sorrow; rather, one of celebration.
Ransberger’s high school career will continue at least one more week as the Panthers became the first baseball team to win back-to-back IHSAA regional championships in the South Bend Tribune coverage area since Penn did so in 2022 and 2023 with an 8-1 win against Highland, claiming a 3A crown.
“Boy, this is quite an accomplishment with this group,” Benko said in a phone interview Saturday night. “It’s fun; it’s great. I think we’re young enough that we don’t know any better. We just want to go play. And you know what? Since we’re playing, we might as well win.”
Against the Trojans, the Panthers allowed just three hits, with sophomore starting pitcher Finley Miller turning in six and 1/3 innings of work, walking six batters, allowing no earned runs and striking out six batters. Miller also helped himself on offense with two hits, an RBI and a stolen base.
NorthWood scored its runs in bunches, pouncing for two in the second inning, two more in the fifth, three in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Joining Miller with RBIs were Brady Blackford with two, and Brody Rondeau, Sade Yoder, Drew Rains and Brady Weaver each with one.
This barrage helped the Panthers win their third regional championship of the last 10 years and fifth overall. When they did so last season, they were 20-12, just one win better than the current squad.
NorthWood won its 3A semi-state semifinal against Norwell last season, only to lose in the title game to eventual state champion Andrean. Next up for the Panthers this time around is a rematch against Norwell (19-8), while Andrean (28-3) faces DeKalb (21-4) in the other North semifinal. Location and time of these games has yet to be announced by the IHSAA.
The key difference between this season’s team and the last is being without 10 key seniors. Benko admitted that NorthWood had to take its lumps to win a second consecutive regional title, a price well worth the reward.
“It’s been pretty remarkable what they’ve done,” he said. “They’ve been really resilient. They weren’t very satisfied with the narrative of a down year or rebuilding year.”
Bremen baseball’s 20-8 season came to an end Saturday, losing its IHSAA 2A regional championship game 9-0 against Bluffton (17-10). The Lions fell short of capturing just their third all-time regional title, while the Tigers won their first.
The Lions had just two hits in the season-ending loss, two of which came from senior Max Barnes and the other from senior Spalding University commit Zack Rouch. Bremen did not have a runner reach base until the fifth inning, and the bottom of that frame was its ultimate undoing on defense.
Bluffton already led 3-0, but the Tigers piled on for five more in the fifth after loading the bases with no outs thanks to two hit batters and a single. Bluffton drove in its runs via sacrifice fly, two singles, a double and a wild pitch.
Saturday marked the end of eight high school careers for the Lions, six of whom were in the starting lineup against Bluffton. Despite the disappointment in the end, Bremen had its most successful season since 2023 with 20 wins and a sectional crown.
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
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