TAC BASEBALL Champion rolls past Hubbard to win title

It was the second title in three years for the Flashes, who won 7-2.
HUBBARD -- Chris Palm scattered four hits, retiring the last 16 batters (and 18 of the last 19) that he faced, and added two hits and two RBIs to lead Champion High to a 7-2 victory over Hubbard Monday.
The Golden Flashes (20-4, 11-3) won the Trumbull Athletic Conference title for the second time in the past three seasons (they were second last season to league champion Newton Falls) and will now shift their attention to tournament play where they will meet Gates Mills Hawken in a Division III district semifinal at Euclid Thursday.
The Eagles, who were 4-13 overall in 2004 (and 3-11 in the TAC), ended their season 14-5, 10-4 under first-year coach Brian Bosheff.
"One of our goals this year was to win 20 games; the other was to win the TAC," Champion coach Tim Cope said. "Tonight, we accomplished both of those goals and that is a great feeling.
Senior leadership
"We had four tremendous senior leaders in Jake Gross, Alan Stevens, Drew Szepietowski and Chris Palm. All season long they provided much needed leadership for us."
Palm (7-0) said it took a total team effort to win the league crown.
"We felt that we could be a good team at the beginning of the year, but how good we really didn't know," Palm said. "This has been a fun season for everyone.
"It took a little while to get loose tonight and because of that I kept the ball up. When I settled down, I really felt comfortable. This was my best stretch on the mound this season."
Eagles score first
The Eagles got on the board when Tom Jones' sacrifice fly in the first inning scored Keith Pero for a 1-0 advantage.
Champion tied the score in their half of the second inning when Caleb Pagley, who had a two-out single, scored on an error.
The Eagles took a 2-1 lead in their half of the second when Joe Marando led off with a double and scored on a single by Dan Beilstein.
Champion takes lead
In the fourth inning, three hits, including a double by Palm, and a fielder's choice by Szepietowski scored two runs as Champion took a 3-2 lead.
"Palm is an excellent pitcher and he did a great job on the hill for Champion tonight," said Bosheff. "We got the key hits early then tried to do too much in the middle innings. When Palm settled down, he threw well. They then got the timely hits when they really needed them."
A double by Alan Stevens drove in Szepietowski in the sixth inning for a 4-2 Champion advantage, then a two-run double by Szepietowski and a RBI single by Palm in the seventh rounded out the scoring.
Palm's complete game included two strikeouts and no walks while losing pitcher Matt Beckes allowed 14 hits in 62/3 innings, striking out two while walking three.