Baseball Takes Two From Walsh, Schaly Ties For All-Time D-II Wins Mark

Ashland University head baseball coach John Schaly doesn't care as much about the record he tied on Friday (March 14) as that his Eagles won a home Great Midwest Athletic Conference series from Walsh.
 
But tie a significant record Schaly did, for, thanks to 9-4 and 8-2 victories over the Cavaliers at Tomassi Stadium and Donges Field at the Archer Ballpark Complex, his Eagles are 10-6 overall and 3-0 in the league – and Schaly has won 1,324 career games, tying him with Southeastern Oklahoma's Mike Metheny for the most in NCAA Division II baseball history.
 
"All the players. Talented players, guys that buy into our system," Schaly said of his career. "Work hard, great work ethic. I've been blessed with a lot of great assistant coaches. This is a team thing. It's the players and assistant coaches, support staff, trainers. It's all of us."
 
Said junior shortstop Collin Overholt, "It's awesome. It's a great experience, and it's just fun to be around a great team, as well."
 
The Eagles wasted little time scoring in Game 1, posting two runs in the bottom of the first. Senior third baseman Jeremiah Cangelosi kept his hot bat going with an RBI double, then senior catcher Ben Peltz followed with a sacrifice fly.
 
Walsh (2-11, 0-3) got on the board and cut its deficit in half in the top of the third with a run, but graduate left fielder Max Caron launched a solo home run to start the bottom of the third to get the run back. Later in the third, an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Kaiden Mastri upped the Eagle lead to 4-1, then Overholt stole home to make it 5-1.
 
In the fourth, the Cavaliers plated a run, but the Eagles returned serve in the bottom of the inning when Peltz drove in two with a double. Walsh's run in the fifth made it a 7-3 game, but AU got the run back on a wild pitch in the sixth, and then more in the sixth thanks to a junior right fielder Billy Howard run-scoring single.
 
Game 2 featured a solo home run from Peltz to get AU on the board first in the bottom of the second, then freshman designated hitter Gage Weaver added an RBI safety later in the second for an early 2-0 advantage.
 
After graduate left-handed pitcher Marshall Leishman got out of a first-and-third, no out spot in the top of the third, Overholt came back with a two-run double in the bottom of the third, then a Cavalier error put AU on top, 5-0, through three.
 
Walsh scored twice in the sixth to cut its deficit to 5-2, but had the bases loaded with no outs and could have had more. In the bottom of the sixth, freshman center fielder Sean Krueckeberg hit an opposite-field solo shot, Peltz added a run-scoring safety, and Overholt chipped in with an RBI hit.
 
CLICKING ON OFFENSE AND ON THE MOUND…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• In game one, Peltz ended 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored, and Caron was 2-for-2 with a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.
• Senior righty Hunter Allen (2-0) went the first five innings, striking out seven and giving up six hits, three runs (two earned) and four walks.
• Overholt was 4-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and three RBIs in the nightcap, Peltz ended 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored, and Weaver was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
• "Everyone's got each other's back," said Overholt. "We're just playing for each other and bouncing back from our Florida trip. Just getting one win at a time, and moving on from there."
• Said Schaly, "We know we have a lot of good hitters in our lineup, and it was just a matter of time. They're starting to swing it the way we know they can."
• Leishman (1-2) went the first five frames, whiffing nine and yielding six hits, two runs (both unearned) and two walks. Senior lefty John Essig earned his first save of 2025 with two scoreless innings and two whiffs.
• "Hunter and Marshall gave us two great starts," Schaly noted. "Then (junior lefty) Seth Witt and John Essig threw well out of the 'pen."

UP NEXT
The fourth and final game of the series on Sunday (March 15) at 1 p.m. (moved up from 1:30 p.m.) at home.
 
"We know they're going to come at us," Schaly said. "We've got to be ready to play again."