Canfield 9-10 baseball captures state crown

After drubbing Olentangy in first game, Canfield wins finale in dramatic fashion

Staff report

HAMILTON

Jack Davis will go down as the hero of Canfield’s latest state title.

But just barely.

After leading off the bottom of the seventh inning with a triple over the right fielder’s head, Davis scored the game-winner on a passed ball to beat Olentangy 5-4 in Sunday’s 9-10-year-old Little League baseball state championship game.

“We were telling him ‘No, no, no, no!’ because the ball hit the backstop and ricocheted back toward the catcher,” said Canfield manager George Beck. “He’s one of the faster kids on our team but with no outs and our top two kids coming up, we only needed a deep fly ball or a hard hit ball through the infield.”

Davis hesitated for a brief second, “then boom, he took off,” Davis said. Olentangy’s catcher fielded the ball and shuffled it to the pitcher, who was covering home plate. Davis slid into his glove, the pitcher dropped the ball and, just like that, Canfield had its third 9-10 state title in four years.

The victory was the second of the day for Canfield, which drubbed Olentangy 10-0 in the opener. Canfield had lost to Olentangy 7-3 in Friday’s championship semifinals, then beat Tuscarawas 9-8 in eight innings in Saturday’s losers bracket final to advance to the final of the double elimination tournament.

“We have a flair for the dramatic here in Canfield,” Davis said.

Connor Miller pitched the first six innings of the championship game, giving up four runs on seven hits. Jake Schneider pitched a hitless seventh to finish it out.

Broc Lowry had three hits, including a two-run single in the fourth inning that put Canfield up 4-3 after trailing 3-1. Luca Ricchiuti and A.J. Havrilla each added two singles for Canfield, which also won 9-10 titles last season and in 2012.

In the opener, Ricchiuti pitched a complete game, giving up three hits in five innings. He needed just 42 pitches, saving Canfield’s bullpen after Saturday’s extra-innings game.

“To do what he did was huge for us,” Davis said.

Ricchiuti also had two hits in the win, while Ben Slanker singled and doubled and Havrilla had two hits for Canfield, which is finished for the season since 9-10 teams do not play past the state tournament.

The game capped a terrific season for Canfield’s youth baseball programs. Canfield’s 10-11 team finished as state runners-up to Dover on Saturday, while the 11-12 team won a district title.