FORT JENNINGS, Ohio — Down to their final out and trailing by a run, Delphos St. Johns pulled off a stunning comeback to beat Miller City 2-1 in eight innings on Monday night, punching their ticket to next week’s ACME state tournament.

In a District 2 semifinal where offense was hard to come by, Miller City senior Kade Gerschutz opened the scoring in the third inning with a no-doubt solo home run — the first of his career — to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

That advantage held up thanks to a dominant start from fellow senior Jonny Pester, who threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts while allowing just two hits.

But in the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Jays’ season came down to one last chance. With a runner on second and two outs, Drake Fittro executed a perfect swim move on a steal of third to keep the inning alive. Moments later, Logan Duncan delivered the game-tying RBI single up the middle after the ball ricocheted off the pitcher.

In the bottom of the eighth, St. Johns loaded the bases and Fittro came through again — this time with a walk-off single to score Tyce McClain, completing the dramatic 2-1 comeback.

With Kalida already qualified for state as the tournament host, St. Johns advances automatically with the semifinal victory and will represent District 2 next week.

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