NORWALK — Experience is the best teacher, as the saying goes.

Milan Edison added proof to the adage in the Division III district semifinal against Wynford Thursday at Norwalk High School.

The Chargers overcame a 3-1 deficit with a seven-run sixth inning, then held on for an 8-6 win.

Edison (18-7) advances to the district final to face Margaretta — a 3-1 winner over Genoa in the first game — on Saturday back at Norwalk. The Chargers won the district last year.

“They’re a young group for the most part,” Edison coach Sean Hoover said of the Royals. “This is their first time here. We battled through these games last year. I think that experience paid off from last year too.”

The Chargers got five of their 10 hits in the fateful sixth. Edison parlayed them, along with a walk and two errors, into seven runs. It changed a 3-1 deficit into an 8-3 lead.

“As soon as they caught us, we got tight,” Wynford coach Tom Smith said. “We haven’t been to this point (district tournament), and we got tight — a couple of rushed and rash decisions instead of just getting outs.”

Wynford (20-6), behind the pitching of Spencer Miller, had held the potent Chargers’ lineup at bay for five innings. Miller scattered five hits and walked only one over that span as the Royals built their 3-1 lead.

Cainen Allen was hit by a pitch and with two outs, Zach Harer singled in Allen and Kaiden Blair tripled Harer home in the second inning.

Edison got one back in the third on a single by Clint Finnen and a double from Hayden Fry.

The Royals got what appeared to be an insurance run in the fifth. Kaiden Blair, Kendall Blair, and Miller got consecutive one-out singles and Grant McGuire brought home the run with a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, four of the Chargers’ five hits were for extra bases. Fry, Noah Smith, and Bryce Michaelis doubled, and Brady Barker tripled. Wynford chipped in with two physical errors and a couple of mental ones.

“I kept telling the guys we were hitting the ball hard,” Hoover said. “We were just hitting it right at them.”

“We had a bad inning, and they took advantage of it,” Smith said. “They had a couple of hard hits. Those were the two big hitters too, so we were supposed to be backed up a little, but they got them past us anyhow.”

The Royals had one last shot in the seventh and almost pulled off the miraculous comeback. Wynford batted around, collecting three hits, and were helped out by a hit batter and two Edison errors.

Kaiden Blair, Dylon Robinson, and Sam Collene had hits and Collene and Miller had runs batted in as the Royals plated three runs and had the bases loaded when the game ended.

Thomas Simon went the first six innings on the mound for the Chargers, despite pitching on a gimpy ankle he sprained in the sectional final on the previous Friday.

“He really gutted it out,” Hoover said. “He shut them down in those middle innings. He pitched six strong.”

Despite Miller’s getting knocked out of the game in the sixth, Smith thought his sophomore right-hander threw well.

“I think they finally timed him up,” Smith said. “He mixes up his speeds and locations and gets guys to pop up.

“He pitched a great game,” Smith added. “He only gave up (4) runs. We kind of fell apart when they caught us in the sixth inning.”

Kaiden Blair led the Royals with three hits, including a triple. Kendall Blair had two singles, while Miller, Robinson, McGuire, Collene, and Harer singled.

Fry had two doubles to lead Edison. Barker had two hits with a triple, Finnen had two singles, and Smith, Max Hoover, Michaelis, and Xander Danner singled.

“We thought their pitchers were around the plate generally — like to start out with a lot of fastballs early in the count,” Hoover said. “We watched them a couple of times and didn’t see a lot of off-speed early in the count. We told our guys to go ahead and be aggressive.”

“We put guys on again today and scored six runs against Edison,” Smith said. “They’re ranked in the top 10 in the state.”

Smith will say good-bye to five seniors — Cobey Allen, Kendall Blair, Harer, Dan Kurek, and Avery Langenderfer — but see a bright future.

“We’re going to reload next year,” Smith said. “Drew Johnson’s over there on the bench. Any other year he’d be starting for us. He hits the ball well and can play about anywhere. He’s a good pitcher too.”

Box score

Wynford   020 010 3       6     10       2

Edison       001 007 X       8     10       2

WP: Thomas Simon (6 SO, 0 W)

LP: Spencer Miller (1 SO, 1 W)

HR: None.

Triples: (W) Kaiden Blair; (E) Brady Barker.

Doubles: (E) Hayden Fry 2, Noah Smith.

Multiple hits: (W) Kaiden Blair 3, Kendall Blair; (E) Clint Finnen, Hayden Fry, Brady Barker.

Records: Wynford 20-6; Edison 18-7.

Next: Wynford season over; Edison vs. Margaretta, Division III district final, Saturday, at Norwalk.