'We're hot right now': Hoover High School baseball wins district, advances to OHSAA regionals

CANTON — Memories mixed with dreams Thursday when the proud high school baseball traditions of Hoover and Mayfield collided.

Hoover rolled 9-2 to advance to a Division I regional semifinal against Federal League rival Jackson. The game will be at Oberlin University.

"It's too bad it can't be here," said Hoover head coach Bryan Ashby a few feet from the district championship trophy at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium. "This place would be packed."

The dramatic matchup is part of the big dream, winning four more games and taking the state championship. It would be a historic feat.

Ashby is an old Viking who was a senior in 1988. Hoover went to its only final fours in 1992 and 1999, reaching the state finals in the latter year.

Mayfield head coach D.J. Rapposelli is an old Wildcat who was a senior in 1991. This is the 90th anniversary of Mayfield's state baseball championship in 1934.

The Wildcats were trying for their first final four since then.

"We've been in the final eight a number of times," Rapposelli said. "The closest we came was in 2010, when we lost 8-7 to St. Ed."

Lakewood St. Edward pitcher was Stetson Allie, who soon landed a $2.25 million signing bonus as a Pittsburgh Pirates draft pick. The catcher was Alex Lavisky, soon to be drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the eighth round.

"Allie went the distance and had to throw 147 pitches," Rapposelli recalled. "He threw 101 miles per hour, but he had a high leg kick. We ran on him all day. It was great.

"We had the bases loaded at the end. Joe Wilson, our catching coach now, had a 15-pitch at bat. He wound up hitting a ground ball that didn't get through and it ended the game."

Hoover's Ashby still gets a certain look when he recalls the last game of his senior year, a 5-3 loss to Louisville in the district finals.

"To be part of a district championship in our community means a lot," he said. "To play Jackson next is exciting. Around Stark County, all eyes are going to be on that game.

"The Federal League is the best league in the state. I have tremendous respect for every single team in the league. Anybody can beat anybody else."

Hoover and Jackson played twice in the regular season, with the Vikings winning 3-2 on April 9 and 5-4 on April 10.

Hoover sophomore Jake Donaldson was at his best Thursday, pitching a one-hitter through five innings, at which point the Vikings led 8-1.

"I told him to just relax and pitch his game," senior catcher Mason Angione said. "That's what he did. He threw strikes, and he threw harder than usual."

"Their pitcher was dominant," said the Mayfield coach, Rapposelli. "He had command. He made us try to hit the pitches he wanted us to swing at."

The Vikings (19-8) have won five straight after a 6-5 loss to Lake.

"We're hot right now," said senior shortstop Mason Ashby, Bryan's son. "It's good to be hot in the playoffs."

Hoover hadn't scored a ton following a 13-1 win at Dover on April 26, but offense was no problem in a 9-4 rout of a 21-win University team in Tuesday's district semis.

The attack is fueled by the first two hitters in the order, Mason Ashby and Jack Andes.

"As they go," coach Ashby said, "we go."

Mason Ashby led off the first inning with a looping double that bounced over the left fielder's head. Andes walked.

Mayfield starter Bo Lewis, a big senior power pitcher, kept the ball down, so much so that four of his first-inning offerings bounced by catcher Holden Cope. This played into a 3-0 lead aided by Kyle Gudat's sacrifice fly and Donaldson's RBI single.

It was go time for the whole lineup.

Carter Lukens and Carson Dyrlund launched doubles over left fielder Joey Barch to start the second and third innings, after which the Vikings led 8-0.

Drake Cooper's two-run single and another RBI base hit by Donaldson figured in.

After Lukens smacked another double, he alit on second base, looked to the dugout, and flapped his arms as if to fly.

"We're playing with confidence," Lukens said. "If we keep playing the way we are right now, we can go a long way."

Mayfield posted a modest regular-season record that included one-run losses to Gilmour Academy, St. Edward, Avon, Brunswick, Shaker Heights and Geneva.

The Wildcats spent nine games without Cope, their star catcher, but his return helped the Wildcats rally to a Western Reserve Conference championship.

Remembering a big night at the plate in an 11-9 upset of Walsh Jesuit on Tuesday, the Wildcats came to life in the sixth inning.

Cope, Cristopher Alexander and Ethan Claiflin smacked consecutive singles, but Donaldson kept throwing strikes and got out of the inning allowing only one run.

Hoover's crowd got a kick out of a pinch-hit single by Jack Ziarko that tacked on a late run. The largest man on the field, Ziarko was the left tackle on the Hoover football team last autumn.

The sixth through ninth hitters in Hoover's batting order produced five hits, four runs and five RBIs.

"We worked on some things and made some adjustments," said Cooper, the No. 9 hitter who delivered the clutch two-run single. "Our whole lineup has come together well."

Jackson presents an imposing test. Everyone in the Hoover camp is aware of the Polar Bears' imposing left-handed pitching.

The Hoover catcher, Angione, is rather fond of his own team's pitching. The Vikings will send their ace, Ashby, against the Bears.

"It's really exciting to be playing them again," Angione said. "We swept them in the Federal League. I think we can go out and do it again."

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton Hoover High School baseball scores OHSAA district title