HARWELLPHOTO.COM
Rittman's Dylan Littman manages to reach home around Windham's Adam Angus and score in the Indians' 8-0 win on Thursday in a Barberton Division IV District baseball semifinal.
HUDSON, Ohio -- Being sidelined by Mother Nature for almost a week at the most critical point of the high school baseball season is tough enough, but for Hudson trying to get back in sync in the Division I district semifinals against Solon mound ace Matthew Smoral was just too much.
Smoral, a southpaw, used his 6-foot-8, 220-pound frame and an effective array of fastballs to limit the Explorers to four hits. He recorded six strikeouts in six innings as the Comets ousted Hudson 8-3 on Thursday night at The Ballpark In Hudson.
Smoral, a junior, came into the game with a 3-1 record and an outstanding 1.47 ERA. The big fella did not lose his composure when Hudson grabbed a 3-1 lead after two innings.
Aggressive Hudson base running forced Solon into two errors leading to two runs. The Explorers' Nate Shaw and Mike Lewandowski combined for three stolen bases in the first inning which led to Hudson's first two runs thanks to infield throwing errors that sailed past Solon's first and second basemen. The Explorers scored those two runs with the aid of one hit.
Hudson's third and final run came in the second inning off the bat of Will Stribrny who stroked a double off the right fielder's glove scoring David Nelson, who had walked and stolen second.
After that Smoral slammed the door on Hudson allowing only two hits and getting out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth inning with Solon leading 5-3.
"Whenever you get in this situation you know you're always going to see everybody's No. 1," Hudson coach Chuck Schilling said. "I thought we really did a good job the first three innings of executing our game plan. That was to see a lot of pitches, put pressure on their defense, and see if they throw it around a little bit. They did and we were able to score some runs. Unfortunately, they did what they did to us earlier in the year, and that was just to put the ball in play and hit 'em where we weren't. We put the ball in play but didn't hit a hole when we needed to," Schilling said.
He's not looking forward to seeing Smoral again next season.
Hudson ace Zac Edwards was the victim of key two-out hits by Solon, starting in the third inning.
With runners at second and third, Solon senior Eric Esborn delivered a two-run single to tie the score 3-3.
A short time later, Comets second baseman Anthony DeMarco singled home two more runs
Neither hit was ripped, but both found holes and did damage.
Solon put the game away by scoring three runs, two on ground outs, in the top of the seventh inning.
This was a case of a familiar NOC opponent having the Explorers number. Two weeks ago Solon (11-12) beat Hudson 9-5 on the Explorers field. Just as they did Thursday night, the Comets fell behind, only to rally for the win.
Schilling says even though Hudson's tournaent run is over, his team still has an outright conference title and a 20-win season to shoot for, as they make up regular season games postponed by this wet spring.
But the Explorers (18-6, 7-2) will have to beat... you guessed it... Solon... in a remaining regular-season game to reach their title goal.
Solon meets Medina for the Division district title Friday at 4:30 at The Ballpark at Hudson.
In other district semifinals:
Barberton Division IV
Rittman 8, Windham 0
COPLEY TWP., Ohio -- Junior Lance Horner is a name area baseball fans would do well to remember.
Horner hit his 14th home run of the season and fanned 14 Windham Bombers in leading Rittman (21-5) to a Barberton Division IV District semifinal win over Windham (8-8).
Horner, a right-hander, yielded one hit and improved to 7-0 on the campaign. He finished 2-for-3 batting with a solo blast in the first inning and a two-run single in the sixth frame. Horner had three RBI.
Rittman senior shortstop Branden Bauman was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Sophomore Cameron Pozsgai had the only hit -- a single to right -- for Windham.
Bombers coach Zack Burns was disappointed to be without five senior players as the game conflicted with Senior Trip Day at Windham. Burns was missing his No. 1 pitcher and cleanup hitter.
Rittman is slated to meet Central Christian tomorrow for the district title. Central Christian gave Rittman a 12-0 loss earlier in the season.
Canton Division I
Green 5, Massillon Jackson 1
CANTON, Ohio -- Thurman Munson Stadium has been good to Green over the years and Thursday Bulldogs junior pitcher Mark Zimmerman felt right at home tossing a 2-hitter at Jackson (13-9).
In the nightcap, Green (18-4) jumped out 5-0 and Zimmerman (4-0) made it stand up, fanning seven along the way.
Senior Jacob Ramey was 2-for-3 with an RBI and junior Bryce Miller continued his stellar campaign with two hits in three trips, including a triple.
James Feller had both safeties for the Polar Bears.
Green advances to play GlenOak for the Canton Division I District championship on Friday at 2 p.m. at Munson Stadium.
Canton Division II
Tallmadge 9, Marlington 3
CANTON, Ohio -- Junior right-hander Tucker Linder received plenty of support and the Blue Devils had little trouble in topping Marlington (15-10) and advancing to Friday's Canton Division II District championship tilt.
Linder (7-0) had a 9-0 lead to work with after three innings.
Senior Andrew Bonnette was 2-for-4 with two runs for the Blue Devils (17-5).
Tallmadge will meet Canton South, a 7-2 winner over Louisville, for the district crown.
Hudson Divison I
Medina 10, Nordonia 0
HUDSON, Ohio -- Defending district champion Medina blasted upstart Nordonia in five innings on Thursday. The Bees meet the Hudson-Solon winner on Friday at 4:30 p.m. for the district crown.
Senior Scott Sency, a Saginaw Valley State recruit, hit a grand slam and picked up the mound victory for the Bees.