Canfield, defending Div. II state champs, moves up to Div. I

Meanwhile, the Canfield High softball team has dropped to Div. II.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

The “Canfield Factor” has created a couple of shakeups for this spring’s high school baseball and softball tournaments that get under way Monday.

Canfield’s baseball team is the defending Division II state champions, but Matt Koenig’s Cardinals won’t get a chance to defend their crown. That’s because an enrollment surge in boys at the school moved the Cards up to Division I in baseball.

Instead of competing against Poland, Hubbard and Mooney, Canfield’s road to district could include challenges from Warren Harding, Fitch or Boardman.

Canfield’s softball team, coached by Ronie Haurin, is going the other direction. Because of an enrollment decrease in girls at Canfield, the Cardinals — the Mahoning Valley’s Div. I district champion the past two seasons — have dropped to Div. II.

So instead of opening the tournament against the likes of Fitch and Boardman, the Cardinals will be part of what Mooney softball coach Mark Rinehart calls “the toughest sectional in the state.”

He’s not kidding. Mooney is the Steel Valley Conference champion, Canfield is in first place in the Metro Athletic Conference while Poland and Struthers are right behind. Hubbard leads the Trumbull Athletic Conference.

Only two of them will advance to the Jefferson district.

Mooney, a district semifinalist for years, opens with a sectional game on Tuesday against Reid Lamport’s Poland, a district finalist and regional semifinalist in recent seasons. The other sectional opener has Ken Miller’s Hubbard against Anthony Gentile’s Struthers.

The winners will meet to determine a district representative.

Canfield will open against the winner of the Niles-Liberty game.

In baseball, Canfield opens on Thursday against the Wednesday winner of Chaney-Warren Harding. In the lower half of the Division I bracket, Boardman will play Youngstown East while Fitch tangles with Ashtabula Lakeside. The Federal League rivals could meet in the sectional final.

Mooney, Poland and Hubbard are likely to contend for the Div. II district title at Cene Park in Struthers.

In Div. III, Sean durkin’s Ursuline, which has qualified for state the past two seasons, has the top seed in the Warren district.

Tennis tournament action also gets under way this week. The Div. I matches will be contested on Thursday at the Harvard and Stadium Park courts in Canton. Div. II competitors will gather on Wednesday at the Volney Rogers (Mill Creek Park) and Struthers courts.