GALION — By his own admission, Landen Snyder hasn’t been hitting the ball well.

“I haven’t been hitting well and we talked after practice and he told me I was in the lineup and I said I’m ready to go. I think I was ready,” Snyder said.

The senior right-hander not only fired a complete-game six-hitter, but he slammed a double to left-center field, scoring the game’s only run as Mohawk dropped South Central, 1-0, in the semifinal of the Division IV district tournament at Galion’s Heise Park.

With the win, the Warriors (18-11) will face Arlington (16-6) on Friday at 5 p.m. for the district title. The Red Devils edged Plymouth (14-11), 4-2, in the evening’s other game.

Mohawk coach Eric Hoover made the decision to put Snyder in the days before the game.

“He hasn’t been hitting,” Hoover said of his pitcher. “In fact, in the last tournament game, he didn’t even bat. He’s had a couple of good practices and we got him back in there. He came up with the big one.”

For the first four innings, the Warriors got just one hit off  South Central starter Karl Ferber.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Mohawk designated hitter Troy Russell reached on an error and Hoover brought in Reece Hannam to run for Russell. With two outs, Snyder came to the plate.

Snyder worked the count to 3-2 before lining a shot to left center that split the outfielders. Hannam, who was running on the pitch, scored easily with the game’s only run.

“I saw a lot of fastballs, curveballs, and sliders and that last pitch that he gave me was a fastball right down the middle and I had to take it,” Snyder said.

“When I hit that double, I was so excited because we scored, and it got my heart pumping.”

“It was just a great situation,” Hoover said. “It was a full count so we could start the runner and he hit a double and we were able to get him home.”

Snyder was also dominant on the mound, but he needed the Mohawk defense to bail him out in the top of the fourth.

Ferber and Carson Music each singled to open the frame and moved to second and third on a wild pitch with no one out.

From there, Blaine Wheeler hit a rope to right field and Bryce Hannam made a great catch. He then fired to second and got the force on Music. With two out, Snyder was able to get out of the inning.

“That was a game-changer right there,” South Central coach Michael Perry said. “The kid made a heck of a play. I didn’t get a good look at it and neither did Carson. That’s on me for not having my guy at third go back and tag up. I’ll own that because that was me not doing what I was supposed to do.”

“We’ve had to field the ball well to win all year,” Hoover said. “We haven’t scored a lot of runs. We have a lot of guys that are very versatile and can play different positions and are confident in what they are doing.

“We count on that, our defense, to get things done for us. We don’t strike many guys out, either. So, they’re having to make plays and they did a great job.”

Snyder fanned three and walked none.

“He had a great outing, very efficient. He had just over 50 pitches,”  Hoover said. “He kept the ball low. The top of their order is very good, and he did a good job of not giving hitters anything to hit.

The loss wasted an amazing start by the Trojans’ Ferber, who permitted just three Mohawk baserunners in the game. He struck out six and hit one batter.

“For a sophomore, in a game like that, to come out and give up an unearned run, and he’s one of those kids, he’s a leader,” Perry said. “Everybody loves the kid. He’s the hardest worker on the team and the sky’s the limit for him.”

“Ferber was outstanding also,” Hoover said. “I knew he was going to be good. He is an outstanding all-around baseball player. He did a good job of keeping us off-balance. We struggled to get baserunners. We didn’t have many. Not even a lot of hard-hit balls.”

Box score

South Central   000 000 0       0       6       1

Mohawk               000 010 0       1       2       0

WP: Landen Snyder (3 SO, 0 W)

LP: Karl Ferber (6 SO, 0 W)

HR: None.

Triples: None.

Doubles: (M) Landen Snyder.

Multiple hits: (SC) Carson Music.

Records: South Central 14-10; Mohawk 18-11.

Next: Mohawk vs. Arlington, Division IV district final, at Galion, Friday.