Warren players mob starting pitcher Tate Jonas following the Warriors’ 5-0 win over Athens in Friday’s district final at Bob Wren Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

ATHENS, Ohio — Tate Jonas picked up right where Carter Strong left off.

Pitching on the same mound where just a day earlier Strong hurled a complete game in a district semifinal win over Hillsboro, Jonas one-upped his freshman teammate. Warren’s junior right-hander put together a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits while striking out nine batters to lead the Warriors past Athens 5-0 for the Division III Southeast District championship Friday at Bob Wren Stadium.

“We had an objective,” said Warren head coach Chad Porter. “They showed up. They played. They believed. Extremely proud of them.”

Porter’s squad had to battle through some early-season struggles to get to this point, but those days feel like ancient history now. The red-hot Warriors dominated their way as the No. 7 seed through an eight-team district, outscoring their opponents 16-3 in three games.

“Confidence is a very special thing,” Porter said. “It’s tough to beat confident people that believe and believe in each other. Once we got the ball rolling, you could see the light bulb go off in some of these kids. This game is so hard. This game is such a mental grind, and it can change in any pitch. They stuck with it and they believed.”

Warren pitcher Tate Jonas fires a pickoff throw to first during Friday’s district final win against Athens at Bob Wren Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Warren, which is now 16-14 and will take on Bishop Watterson at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Paints Stadium in the regional semifinals, staked Jonas to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Strong’s two-out RBI single to center field.

The score remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth when Cody Eding’s two-out, two-run double bounced just inside the right-field foul line to make it 3-0. The Warriors played add-on in the seventh as Aiden Lipscomb’s RBI single and Jonas’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0.

Jonas, though, really only needed that second-inning run. Everything else was just gravy.

“Nobody thought we’d be here,” Jonas said. “We put in so much hours, so much work, and it finally showed. We worked our butts off to get here. The team chemistry is awesome. It’s the best atmosphere you could ask for.”

As sharp as Jonas was, he did have to battle through some command issues at times. A walk and a hit-batter gave Athens two on with nobody out in the second, but Jonas struck out the next two batters and got a groundout to escape. In the fourth, three walks loaded the bases with two outs, but a lazy popout ended the threat.

Warren’s Haiden Strong lays down a sacrifice bunt during Friday’s district final win against Athens at Bob Wren Stadium. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Kade Short started the bottom of the fifth with an infield single and was bunted over to second. With Warren still clinging to a 1-0 lead, Jonas retired the Bulldogs’ No. 2 and 3 hitters to preserve the shutout.

“Unreal,” Porter said of Jonas’s performance. “Control-wise, we were flirting with disaster a little bit, but he just dug deep. All he had to do was pound the zone. His off-speed stuff was good — he had good stuff the entire night. He just got into that little lull where he was getting behind. He made a mental adjustment and he just started going after guys and did a great job.”

Jonas’s ability to change speeds and command his off-speed pitches gave Athens hitters fits.

“My fastball sometimes doesn’t get by people all the time,” he said. “I’m able to rely on my slider and my curveball a lot. It’s just a great off-speed pitch to get them off balance. My teammates are amazing defenders. Just putting the trust in them is what I basically do. I don’t need to blow it by people, because if they do hit it, like we saw tonight, they’ll pick me up.”

Lipscomb had a 3-for-4 day to lead Warren offensively. Strong and Jayce Hilverding had two hits apiece as Warren finished with 10 hits on the day.

Athens starter Zachary Wakeley went six innings, striking out four with no walks. Briar Thomas pitched an inning of relief.

The Bulldogs, who have eight seniors on their roster, split with Warren in the regular season. On Thursday, they knocked off top-seeded Jackson. On this day, however, Athens was no match for a group of young Warriors who are playing with tons of confidence and have put together a postseason run they will never forget.

“Special things happen when people overcome things,” Porter said. “These guys overcame so much early in the season that they were so battle tested. It was like, ‘What do we got to lose?’ I really believe that going through what they went through at the beginning of the season, fighting how they fought and gaining that confidence got them to this point.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com

At Bob Wren Stadium

Division III District Final

Warren 5, Athens 0

W 010 002 2 — 5 10 0

A 000 000 0 — 0 2 2

WP: Tate Jonas 7 IP, 4 BB, 9 SO

LP: Zachary Wakeley 6 IP, 0 BB, 4 SO

Briar Thomas 1 IP, 0 BB, 0 SO

Warren (16-14) hitting: Aiden Lipscomb 3-4, RBI, R; Jayce Hilverding 2-4, R; Carter Strong 2-3, RBI, R; Cody Eding 1-2, 2B, 2 RBIs, R; Braylen Murray 1-4, R; Jonas RBI; Will Carte 1-3

Athens (17-12) hitting: David Sharp 1-2; Kade Short 1-3

Next game: Warren vs. Bishop Watterson, 2 p.m. Wednesday at Paints Stadium (Regional Semifinal)