West Union, Manchester set for district baseball tournament games

Adams County’s postseason map is set, and the sharpest contrast belongs to West Union and Manchester. The Dragons drew the toughest road: a No. 20 seed, a May 18 play-in at Chesapeake High School at 5 p.m., and a likely second trip on May 21 to face No. 4 Zane Trace if they survive. Manchester, by comparison, landed a home game as the No. 5 seed and will host Eastern Brown on May 19 at 5 p.m. with a direct lane to the district semifinals in Chillicothe.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s tournament calendar put the key paperwork and bracket steps in motion with an April 27 entry and withdrawal deadline and May 11 seed and draw meetings. The Southeast District bracket then gave Adams County four very different road maps, with West Union in Division V and Manchester, Peebles and North Adams all bracketed in Division VI.

West Union enters at 2-16, a reflection of a young roster under coach John Shelton that has spent the spring rebuilding with just 16 players, mostly sophomores. The Dragons still have a path if they can spring an upset at Chesapeake, but the matchup burden is obvious: beat the top-heavy play-in game, then turn around quickly for Zane Trace, a No. 4 seed waiting on the other side. That kind of climb is where an early exit risk is highest.

Manchester draws the most favorable setup in the county. The Greyhounds are 10-8, have already beaten Eastern Brown 15-5 on April 17, and now get the Warriors again at home. If Manchester wins, it advances to the district semifinals on May 23 at 6:30 p.m. at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, where it would meet the winner of Southeastern and Belpre. Coach Trey Meade put the postseason formula plainly: “It’s just survive and advance at this point of the year.”

Peebles also earned a home opening, drawing No. 6 in Division VI and hosting Beaver Eastern on May 19 at 5 p.m. North Adams landed at No. 9 with a 10-12 record and will travel to Symmes Valley the same night, a matchup confirmed in the Division VI Southeast 1 bracket showing No. 8 Symmes Valley against No. 9 North Adams and No. 5 Manchester against No. 12 Eastern Brown. Coach Ryan Unger said he expected the Green Devils to land between the 8 and 10 seed range.

For Adams County fans, the near-term stakes are clear: Manchester has the best chance to make a deep run, Peebles gets home-field advantage, North Adams faces a coin-flip road test, and West Union has the steepest climb just to keep its season alive.