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Niles Red Dragons hang on for victory at Canfield
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James Tate of Niles steals second base ahead of the throw to Canfield’s Joe Tuchek during Thursday’s baseball game in Canfield. The Red Dragons edged the Cardinals, 7-6, to clinch a share of the All-American Conference American Division championship.
Niles hangs on for victory at Canfield
By Brandon Judeh
CANFIELD
Seventeen years ago, brothers Mike and T.C. Guarnieri took over the Niles baseball program.
Thursday night, they celebrated their first title when the Red Dragons earned a share of the All-American Conference American Division championship with a 7-6 victory over Canfield.
When the final out was recorded, Mike Guarnieri let out a sigh of relief and let his joy show as family and friends ran over to him to hug and congratulate the coach.
“We have worked so hard for this goal, it’s very emotional and this means the world to us,” Guarnieri said. “This championship is for all of those guys who played in the program throughout the years and it’s for the community and the school too.”
Guarnieri credited the rest of his coaching staff: Mike Hoover, Brad Barnhart, Aaron Johnstone and Anthony Ragozine.
Howland can tie Niles if the Tigers defeat Canfield on Saturday.
The Red Dragons (18-8, 9-1), who hadn’t defeated Canfield (14-4, 7-2) since 2004, almost had their dreams crushed in the seventh inning despite a two-run lead.
After the first two Cardinals batters reached base, Edmond Pilolli laid down a bunt and pitcher Noah Arvin fired to third base to get the lead runner.
The next batter, Ben Angelo, smacked a single into right field to cut the lead to 7-6. One walk later, the bases were loaded with only one out.
“I had a lot of emotions going on, but I learned to put all of those feelings away and just throw strikes,” Arvin said.
The Red Dragons had a huge third inning by taking advantage of two walks that led to five runs.
Ryan Ifft started the scoring off with a two-run double, followed by a two RBI single by Ian Hileman. The inning was capped off with James Tate’s RBI double that gave Niles a 5-1 lead.
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity in the bottom half of the inning by loading the bases with no one out.
It was a squandered opportunity, producing just one run as Red Dragons starter Jake Foster induced a double play and a flyout to end the inning.
After exchanging runs in the fifth inning, Foster helped his own cause in the sixth with an RBI groundout.
Canfield scored twice in the bottom half to cut the lead to two.
Momentum was stolen early by Red Dragons shortstop Tyler Wiery, who made two diving stops.
Canfield’s Joe Tuchek had two hits and two RBIs while Angelo reached base four times and knocked in a run.
For the Red Dragons, Hileman knocked in three runs and Foster pitched four productive innings on his way to picking up the victory.