The Fulton baseball team has made sectional runs before. The Steamers have won five consecutive regional titles.

Parkview Christian has not as the Falcons were playing in their first ever sectional game Wednesday.

The Steamers took advantage of two Parkview Christian errors in the second inning to score four runs - only one earned - to take an early lead.

That was more than enough with Chase Dykstra on the mound for Fulton.

The senior all-stater allowed just three hits while striking out 10 batters to lead Fulton to a 12-1, five-inning victory over the Falcons in a Class 1A Putnam County Sectional semifinal in Granville.

“We’ve been here before,” Dykstra said. “Just like last year, it’s just another game. We did our job. We put the ball in play and they made mistakes. We capitalized on it. It helped me a lot on the mound because I knew we had a comfortable lead. I knew if I just trust my defense and keep throwing strikes, we were going to keep putting runs on the board and I could just do my job.”

The Steamers (18-8), who won a sectional title last spring, advance to the sectional title game at 11 a.m. Saturday against Putnam County. The Panthers (23-11) advanced with an 11-1, five-inning win over Newark in Wednesday’s second semifinal.

“We expect a tough game,” Fulton coach Brent Dykstra said. “Experience (at the sectional final level) does help. It gives you an idea of what to expect about the game, but it’s a completely different team that we have and what they have, so always expect the unexpected.”

A double by Evan Folk, a walk by Mason Kuebel and a one-out slow roller single by Hudson Price loaded the bases in the second inning for Fulton.

After a flyout, Easton Spooner hit an RBI single through the left side and the ball was bobbled in left field, allowing the bases to clear for a 3-0 lead.

Dykstra then hit a single into left field that also was mishandled to plate a fourth run for a 4-0 lead.

“We were hitting the ball. We took advantage of some mistakes they made fortunately. That doesn’t happen all the time, but we were able to capitalize on some of those mistakes,” Brent Dykstra said. “That’s a big thing (to get an early lead) when you have good pitching on the mound. Not that you have a cushion, but it does help from a mentality standpoint where you’re not playing on your heels as much.”

The Steamers scored two runs on wild pitches in the third inning, scored three runs on three hits - including a two-run double by Kuebel - and two Parkview Christian errors in the fourth, and three runs on two hits and three errors in the fifth to help end the game.

“That’s a very good team,” Parkview coach Ryan Malkowski said. “We knew we were going to get challenged. ... I wish we would have played a little cleaner. Seven errors isn’t going to get it done at this level against that quality of a team, so we’re disappointed.”

The Falcons finish the season 18-13 after winning the program’s first regional championship.

“It was one of our best years,” Malkowski said. “We had a good group of guys. Going into next year, we lose all our starters except for three, so we’re going to be rebuilding and getting back to the grind. But we have a good school, we have good parents and a good foundation, so we’re just going to try to keep building and get back here some times.”

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Fulton's Will Borgman and teammate Mason Kuebel leap in the air after defeating Parkview Christian during the Class 1A Sectional semifinal game on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 at Putnam County High School. (Scott Anderson)