North Canton Hoover advances to Division I baseball district semifinal; Walsh Jesuit falls

CANTON — The big inning was an asset to the North Canton Hoover baseball team Tuesday at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.

It was a friend and a foe for the Walsh Jesuit baseball team.

Hoover put together two big innings on its way to a 9-4 win over University School in the second Division I district semifinal at Munson.

Walsh compiled three big innings, but Mayfield countered with three big innings to win Tuesday's opener 11-9.

Hoover (18-8) and Mayfield (15-14) will meet in a Division I district final at 5 p.m. Thursday at Munson.

Mason Ashby, Jack Andes and Drake Cooper lead Hoover to OHSAA baseball district final

Hoover built a 9-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first inning, five runs in the second and one run in the third.

"I loved the focus we had today," Hoover coach Bryan Ashby said. "We had a plan going in and they executed it. It is about execution when you get to tournament play. Fortunately for us, we were able to execute in the first three innings and we scored nine runs."

Ashby's son, senior Mason Ashby, singled to start the game and sophomore Jack Andes followed with an RBI triple. Senior Kyle Gudat was hit by a pitch and scored via an error.

"I always want to get off on a good step," said Mason Ashby, who stole one base and has the Hoover career record for steals with 64.

"I am the leadoff hitter, so we gotta get good momentum going on and get our team up in the dugout. Scoring that first run really gave us the momentum to build off of. Jack Andes triple really got us started."

Vikings sophomores Carter Lukens and Drake Cooper singled to open the second and scored on a fielder's choice and a double-steal, respectively. Andes, Gudat and senior Carson Dyrlund also scored in the inning that included an RBI by Gudat, a wild pitch, an RBI single by junior Matt Brown and a sacrifice fly by junior Danny Holihan.

"We all believe in each other and we all trust each other hitting and fielding," said Andes, who finished with a triple, walk, two runs, two RBIs and two stolen bases.

Cooper singled, stole two bases and scored on an error in the third. He finished with three singles, two runs and three stolen bases.

"We put the ball in play and made them make plays, and they didn't make all the plays," said Hoover sophomore Jake Donaldson, who hit two singles.

"We did the little things right and we were aggressive on the basepaths."

Mason Ashby (5-2) pitched five innings for the win and Andes worked the final two innings. Lukens and Holihan were involved in two double plays that Hoover turned, and junior Nathan Spangler made a diving catch in left field to end University's two-run sixth.

"With two outs, we are trying to keep everything in front, so I was playing a little back," Spangler said. "I saw the ball right off the bat and thought 'Shoot, that is going to be a short ball.' I gave full effort and as I got there I thought 'I think I have a chance on this ball,' so I laid out for it and came up with the catch."

Senior Riley Penn went 4-for-4 with four singles, two RBIs and a run, and pitched a complete game for University (23-6).

Ethan Claflin, Christoph Alexander and JD Sega lead Mayfield to OHSAA baseball district final

Mayfield won with a three-run top of the first inning, a five-run fourth and a three-run sixth. The Wildcats recorded 10 hits, seven walks and were hit by one pitch.

Walsh (16-10) scored four runs in the first, two in the third and three in the sixth. The Warriors totaled 11 hits, three walks and were hit by two pitches.

"I was not expecting that," Walsh coach Joe Bowers said. "We haven't had any game like that all year. They are a good team and they swing it well. We knew we would have to swing it well to play with them. We gave it our all."

Mayfield senior Joey Barch walked with the bases loaded in the first and sophomore JD Sega delivered a two-run single.

Walsh took a 4-3 lead in the first with an RBI single by junior Jagger Dalton and a three-run single by junior Zach Swiderski. Swiderski initially had a triple, but Mayfield appealed the play and the umpires ruled that he missed second base.

The Warriors extended their lead to 6-3 in the second, but the Wildcats five-run fourth made it 8-6. Senior Holden Cope walked with the bases loaded in the fourth and junior Christoph Alexander hit a three-run triple and scored on a double-steal.

Claflin and Barch added an RBI single in Mayfield's three-run sixth to make it 11-6. Walsh responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth as junior Aiden Henry and sophomore Matthew Mansbery each hit an RBI single.

Mayfield senior Rocco Monastero (4-3) pitched a complete game to get the win. Claflin hit three singles and scored two runs. Alexander hit a triple, walked and scored three runs. Sophomore Danny D'Agastino had a single, walk and two runs and Barch had a walk, single and two RBIs.

"Rocco's last four starts, he is the kind of guy that pitches to contact and doesn't give freebies," Mayfield coach DJ Rapposelli said. "We have all the faith in the world in him and when he is on the mound, we get better. We hit the ball better. We are confident in the box and we are ready to swing the bats.

"... Ethan Claflin was the sparkplug today. He was phenomenal. He hit three big singles to get things going. Christoph Alexander's bases clearing triple was huge."

Dalton paced Walsh with two singles, a walk, three RBIs and a run. Mansbery totaled three singles, an RBI and a run; Henry had two singles, a walk, hit by pitch, RBI, two stolen bases and two runs and junior Dominic Romanini had a walk, single and two runs.

Bowers will bid farewell to seniors Sam Pece, Connor Romanini, Mason Solis, Quinn McKiernan, Adam Bentley and Sam Weber.

"We have 22 players coming back," Bowers said. "The seniors were awesome. They have had a tough go of it because they were behind a class of 22 seniors, 12 of which went to play college baseball. They didn't get a whole lot of time in the past three years. This was a lot of there first experiences this season and they did a good job of righting the ship and keeping it going the right way."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: North Canton Hoover advances to OHSAA baseball district final