Paints Clinch First Half Ohio River Valley Division Title

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(Chillicothe) – The Chillicothe Paints, split a doubleheader with the Champion City Kings Sunday at VA Memorial Stadium, winning game one 5-1 and losing game two 3-2. The Paints won the first half division title in the Ohio River Valley of the Prospect League, clinching a post-season playoff berth.

The Paints got a strong start from Nick Falter in game one, holding the Kings at bay for six innings, allowing just three hits while walking two and striking out three. Chillicothe scored on an RBI from Arturo Disla in the first while Tim Orr scored on the play as well. Disla scored on a double by Brayden White in the third. Tyler Mendez brought home another Paints run with a third-inning groundout and then he hit a home run in the sixth, making it 5-0. 

Sam Seeker homered for Champion City in the seventh, making it 5-1, the eventual final. 

In game two, Champion City jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring on a two-out, RBI hit from Nate Manley. The Kings added two runs in the fifth to go ahead 3-0.

Noah Curi (3-0) held the the Paints scoreless over his first four innings of work, allowing a run in the fifth. Curi finished after five innings, having allowed a run on two hits while walking four and striking out six.

Chillicothe scored in the fifth on a Cole Kwiatkowski RBI single. Kwiatkowski would score the Paints’ final run in the bottom of the seventh on a Victor Figueroa single, the final of back-to-back-to-back two-out singles by Chillicothe in the final inning. Chillicothe had the tying run at third and the winning run at second, but a strikout ended the game and the Paints’ win streak at 12. 

Cole Ademy earned his third save of the season after throwing the seventh and allowing a run on three hits and striking out one.

The Paints are now 22-9 on the season and won the first half in the Ohio River Valley Division, meaning they’ll host the division championship game at VA Memorial Stadium Sunday, August 6 at 6:05 p.m. Champion City improved to 10-19. 

Chillicothe is off Monday and Tuesday. They’ll return to action Wednesday in Lafayette, starting a six-game road trip that’ll take place over eight days.