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The Ellet Orangemen dropped a Saturday twinbill at North Canton Hoover. Junior Micah Yergin was on the bump for coach John Sarver's ballclub.
GRANGER TWP., Ohio -- There will be some raised eyebrows when these scores cross the ticker.
Highland (9-6) took a Saturday baseball doubleheader from visiting Medina (15-6) behind the power hitting of senior Kyle Vozar and the pitching of junior Jerry Scholle.
The Hornets played error free in a 3-2 win in the opener as Vozar cranked a home run and knocked in two runs. Scholle earned the save when the Bees fought back from 3-0 and scored two runs in the top of the seventh.
Highland broke the late game wide open with six runs in the home half of the sixth enroute to a 12-2 win. Vozar smashed another home run and Scholle (3-1) got the win on the mound. Highland senior Brad Raley enjoyed a 4-for-4 game at the plate with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored.
In other games:
Akron East 5, Firestone 3
Firestone 12, Akron East 2
AKRON, Ohio -- The Akron City Series is more than just Ellet and Firestone, and the Falcons learned that lesson the hard way on Saturday.
East (6-7, 6-5) shocked Firestone 5-3 in the first of two, maximizing five hits and taking full advantage of four Falcon miscues.
Senior Jordan Shaffer had a home run and two RBI for Firestone (12-9, 7-2).
Junior Nick Heimbaugh picked up the win and junior infielder Chris Merzweiller added a single, a double and two runs in a 12-2 Firestone win in the second contest.
St. Vincent-St. Mary 11, CVCA 0
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio -- The FIghting Irish (12-5) won their seventh straight game behind junior pitcher Adam Journic (2-1) and junior infielder Justin Dages.
The 10-run rule ended the game after five innings. Dages had two doubles and scored twice. Ryan Clark took the loss for CVCA (9-9).
Toledo St. John's Jesuit 17, Walsh Jesuit 11
TOLEDO, Ohio -- St. John's Jesuit erupted for 10 runs in the first inning and handed Walsh (15-1) its first loss of the season in the Ohio Jesuit Cup.
Senior Nate Lundy and junior Graeme Frye homered for the Warriors. Frye had a 3-for 5 game with an RBI and two runs scored.
Senior pitcher Tim Faix (4-1) took the loss.
Copley 18, Solon 3
Copley 6, Solon 5
SOLON, Ohio -- The Indians (9-12) took two from the Comets on Saturday as the Suburban League had a good day against the Northeast Ohio Conference.
Junior outfielder Mike Thutt had six hits in the two games, including a home run and five runs scored. Junior Mike Dugan had a double, a homer and six RBI for Copley.
Green 6, Massillon 2
Green 6, Garfield Heights Trinity 1
MASSILLON, Ohio -- The Bulldogs (14-4) pounded 14 hits in a win over state-ranked Massillon. Junior catcher Hunter Handel had a 3-for-4 game, while senior Seth Curtis, Joe Ferrell and junior Evan Keeslar each had two hits.
Green won its second game 6-1 over Trinity when senior center fielder Alex Ciocca (2-for-4, 1 RBI) and Curtis (winning pitcher) played well. Junior Robb Aigler had three hits for the Bulldogs.
North Canton Hoover 12, Ellet 2
North Canton Hoover 7, Ellet 3
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Black River 10, Manchester 7
Manchester 10, Black River 8
NEW FRANKLIN, Ohio – Their schools and their baseball teams are so much alike – mirror images, really, in many ways in both respects -- that it only makes sense that the games they play against each other would be, too.
And so they were.
Black River and Manchester, two squads where youth and inexperience keep all that talent -- and there is plenty of it -- from showing itself day in and day out, split a non-league doubleheader on Saturday.
The host Panthers (8-13) seemingly had the opener won, leading 7-5 at the end of four innings, only to lose 10-7 after the Pirates (5-10) erupted for four runs in the seventh.
The Pirates seemingly had the nightcap won, leading 8-5 and needing just six more outs to nail it down, only to lose 10-8 after the Panthers erupted for five runs in the sixth inning.
Anybody up for a little intrasquad game?
Indeed, the two small-school teams were just 1-1 for the day, but they were both that close – put your thumb and index finger about a quarter-inch apart from one another – to pulling off a sweep.
“Yeah, those games were a lot alike,” Manchester coach Derrick Mauger said. “The way we came back in that second game is how good we can be when we’re consistent.”
Pirates coach Dozier Hendershot was saying the same thing about his team in regards to the first game.
“We’ve been hitting the ball well,” he said. “Today, we got the runs to go along with the hits.”
The fact the teams don’t always put their best foot forward is maddening at times, but it’s something both coaches are willing to grin and bear because they know the squads are that close – thumb and index finger about a quarter-inch apart again, please – to making that good play a habit.
“I know it’s about the wins and losses, and I want to win as badly as anyone, but when you look past that, you see some very good things,” Hendershot said.
For the Pirates, one of those good things is in the person of Andrew Vaughn. He hit his first two home runs of the year in the opener. He would have more, but this is just his fourth game he has played since being brought up from the junior varsity team. He also had two hits and three runs batted in, in the nightcap.
And did we mention that he’s just a freshman?
By the way, you should have seen the sensational diving catch he made in left field in the first game. It was the defensive play of the day – if not the year -- on either side.
Also for Black River:
*Leadoff hitter Jake O’Connor had a double and scored twice in the opener, and added a double and two singles for three RBI in the nightcap.
*First baseman Jon Sas homered, doubled and singled in the first game.
*Brother Jake Sas, the team’s designated hitter and cleanup hitter, doubled twice and singled twice in the opener, collecting four hits.
*Hendershot blamed himself for leaving pitcher Todd Gentile in too long in the second game, saying that in trying to stretch what he calls a pitching staff that’s a bit thin, he allowed the right-hander to get tired, which in turn allowed Manchester to get to him. Maybe so, but in the two innings before the Panthers got their six runs, Gentile (1-2) had his curveball falling off the veritable table, not allowing a baserunner past first base.
As for the Panthers, they are just 4-6 in the Principals Athletic Conference, but each of their league wins is impressive. They defeated Gnadenhutten Indian Valley, which won the state title two years ago; Massillon Tuslaw, which is ranked in the top 10 in the state and has just three losses; and Wooster Triway and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, both of which are contending for the league title.
“We talk about it as coaches all the time, that these kids just have to believe in themselves every day,” Mauger said.
As evidenced by the way they rallied in the nightcap, the Panthers are already playing hard every day,
“We never give up,” he said. “We don’t quit.”
In that decisive sixth in the second game, Manchester got a double from Jake Miltner, a single from Cody Herman, another single from Kevin Brown, a double from Zack Kaufman and back-to-back hits from Jake Bumgarner and Allen Betz.
Bumgarner’s play was key offensively and defensively. With two outs and a runner on first and a run already in, in the sixth inning, he entered in relief of starter Evan Griffith. He threw just one pitch, inducing a comebacker to the mound, to get the Panthers out of it. His reward for that was eventually getting credit for the victory, raising his mark to 1-2.
Then in the bottom of the sixth, he kept the rally alive by beating out a ground ball in the infield for a hit with two outs.
Is Bumgarner that fast?
“No, not really,” a parent of another Manchester player said. “He just hustles.”
Sounds like the parent could have been talking about any player – on either team – which is a great thing for two programs that close to turning the corner.
“We’ve been ‘mercied’ just one time, which is a lot less than last year,” Mauger said. “We’ve lost by double digits just three times, which is also a lot less than last year.
“That probably doesn’t sound very impressive to most people, but it is because it means the program is getting better.”