The great Tony Gwynn is rarely remembered for his words, but rather for his excellence as a hitter. In this case though, Mr. Padre’s words are why he is being brought up in this article. He was once quoted as saying: “I’m a chemistry guy, I believe you’ve got to play together to have a chance to win”. Yesterday evening Orrville baseball clinched its 1st conference championship since the 1988 season by embodying Gwynn’s words. The team truly played together last night in their conference clinching victory over the Mustangs of Tuslaw. Cameron Kraft earned his 5th win on the season during his 4th complete game in a start he had waited his career to make. Cameron was the epitome of “clutch” today as he worked out of numerous tough situations, while also reaching base in all 4 of his plate appearances. The future Baldwin Wallace man is about as complete of a player as you’ll find in the state. Speaking of clutch, Jacob Ott has embodied that adjective since he returned from injury earlier this season. Jake went 4-4 as a batter, including 3 RBIs. All of Jake’s RBI Singles today came from counts totalling two strikes as well. Those “pitcher’s counts” were undaunting for the junior. His day was even more impressive behind the plate, as he caught a Tuslaw runner stealing, and picked one off. This was a true team effort though. Kellen Wayt, Hunter Adkins, Brendon Boss, and Case McDaniel all joined Ott in tallying at least one RBI against Tuslaw. In addition, each Orrville batter reached base, 8 of which on hits. This effort coming against a pitcher who entered the game with a 5-1 record and a 1.33 ERA. The last time Orrville found themselves as conference champions was in the 1988 season under the guidance of Hall of Famer Bill McMillan. That season was the second to last for Orrville in the All-Ohio Conference, a conference they shared with current PAC-7 rivals Fairless, Triway, Manchester, and Northwest. In the 38 years since, Orrville has navigated stints as an independent, as a member of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, and now the PAC-7. Throughout those 38 years, the baseball program accumulated 5 district championships, but only saw its conference title drought come to an end because of a team that knew “you’ve got to play together to have a chance”. Congratulations to the 2026 PAC-7 Champions: #2 Jacob Ott, #5 Brendon Boss, #6 Caleb Hills, #7 Caleb Carter, #8 Carson Cunningham, #9 Caeleb Snyder, #10 Case Mcdaniel, #11 Austin Kraft, #12 Cameron Kraft, #13 Kellen Wayt, #15 Ian Higgins, #16 Connor Henderson, #21 Karter Wayt, #22 Blake O’Quinn, #23 Alex Smith, #24 Khayden Stine, #27 Hunter Adkins, #32 Reid Shemenski, and last but not least, Jobu.