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The East baseball team will graduate All-City pitcher-first baseman John Hicks, but coach Scott Armstrong still thinks the Dragons can continue their improvement next season.

Medina’s 11-10 district championship baseball win last Friday over Solon at The Ballpark at Hudson is a game people will be talking about for years to come.

After scoring five runs in the top of the sixth, Solon led 10-0.

Still trailing 10-0 and with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Medina’s Nick Martinez drove home Kyle Hulthen with a ground-ball single through the left side of the infield.

The Bees had avoided a 10-run rule loss.

An RBI single from Rutger Luebke made it 10-2.

After keeping Solon (11-13) off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh, Medina began to chip away at its 8-run deficit.

The Bees (18-7) eventually would score nine runs and register one of the most improbable district championship wins on record, bringing the school its third district baseball title in the last four years and fourth in the last seven seasons.

Medina coach Nick Kaplack frequently talks about “making memories” in high school sports. Well, the Bees had fashioned a “memory” for sure – a game that will be remembered many, many years from now.

It has been an unusual season for Kaplack’s ballclub. Beginning its season in Florida, the Bees started 1-2 and then ripped off 12 straight wins. Medina then dropped five of its next seven games before rallying to defeat Firestone (7-1), Nordonia (10-0) and Solon (11-10) in succession for a district crown.

The Bees play Willloughby South on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton in a Division I regional semifinal.

Upset

One of the major upsets in this year’s baseball sectional and district play was in Division III where visiting Manchester toppled No. 1 seed Garrettsville Garfield 2-1 in a Parma Sectional final.

Junior Mitch Keim tossed a complete game three-hitter for the Panthers, who traveled to Garrettsville with a 9-14 record after defeating Waterloo 12-4 in the first round of the tournament.

At last report, Keim was batting .408 with four home runs.  Through 22 games, junior Cody Herman was hitting .369 with 15 runs scored.

League and district champs

Green’s record of baseball achievement under coach Jon Wallace is pretty remarkable.

Over an 8-year span, the Bulldogs have won four Suburban League championships (2005, 2006, 2010, 2011) and four Canton Division I District titles (2004, 2006, 2009, 2011), including a state semifinal appearance in 2009.

This year’s squad (22-4, 12-2) carries a .386 team batting average. Through 25 games, top hitters with at least 88 at-bats include: junior Bryce Miller .477, senior Seth Curtis .459, senior Joe Ferrell .446, senior Jacob Ramey .413, junior Mark Zimmerman .390, senior Alex Ciocca .372 and junior Evan Keeslar .349. Miller, Curtis, Ferrell and Zimmerman are first-team All-SL selections.

The Bulldogs have committed 55 errors in 25 games for a team fielding average of .932.

Green is pitted against Shaker Heights (14-9) in a regional semifinal at 2 on Thursday at Munson Stadium.

String snapped

Walsh Jesuit’s string of eight district titles was snapped over the weekend after a 3-0 loss to senior pitcher Matt Gebacz and rival Archbishop Hoban.

No one could remember the last time Hoban had beaten Walsh in baseball.

No one could remember the last time Hoban won a baseball district title.

It’s thought to be in excess of 15 years on both accounts.

Coach Jim Diestel deserves a ton of credit for rebuilding Hoban baseball and getting the Knights back on the map.

The last team to defeat the Warriors in a district championship game: St. Vincent-St. Mary by an 8-7 score in 2002 at Summit Lake.

In between, Walsh Jesuit won state titles in 2004, 2006 and 2008. The Warriors were second in Ohio in 2009 and 2010.

Pitching and defense

Summit County is guaranteed a Division II regional finalist with Canton District champion Tallmadge meeting Akron District champ Hoban (15-7) in the semifinal round on Thursday at 2 at Hudson.

This is one writer’s opinion, but don’t read too much into Hoban’s earlier 13-7 win over the Blue Devils (18-5).

Coach Kenny Linn’s team is winning with pitching and defense, yielding just three runs in three sectional and district games.

Junior Tucker Linder is Linn’s ace hurler; however, senior Thomas Hobson tossed a complete-game, five-hitter when Tallmadge stopped Canton South 2-0. Hobson induced 11 ground ball outs and fanned three in the win.

A third baseman when not pitching, Linder reached base in three plate appearances against South, going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.

Top hitters in the Blue Devils’ lineup are: senior Derek "Charlie" Frye (.472, 2 HRs, 32 RBI), junior Matt Shomo (.446, 5 HRs, 27 RBI) and senior Andrew Bonnette (.446, 31 runs scored).

The Blue Devils were state champions in 2002.

All-City Series

Fifteen standouts have been named first-team All-City:

P- John Hicks (Sr., East)

P- Nate Shaffer (Sr., Firestone)

C- Cory Campano (So., Ellet)

C- Kyle Reilly (Sr., Firestone)

Inf- Tyler Simcox (Jr., Ellet)

Inf- Jordan Shaffer (Sr., Firestone)

Inf- Tre Turner (Sr., Firestone)

Inf- Alex Berry (Sr., Garfield)

Inf- Zach Killings (Sr., Kenmore)

Of- Nate Geer (Sr., Ellet)

Of- Aaron Male (Jr., Ellet)

Of- Phil McIntyre (Jr., Firestone)

Of- Rob Lyons (Jr., Garfield)

DH- Nick Liston (Jr., Ellet)

U- Alex Snyder (Jr., Garfield)