Cayavec’s double sparks Canfield

By STEVE WILAJ

swilaj@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Up to this point — two outs in the bottom of the third inning — Canfield walked nine times, but didn’t have a hit and trailed Hamilton by one run.

Enter pinch-hitter Logan Cayavec, who finally did what his team couldn’t do early on — smacking a three-run double down the right-field line for a two-run lead.

“That was big for us,” Canfield pitcher A.J. Havrilla said. “That got us going and hitting the ball.”

Cayavec’s hit provided the spark and Havrilla took it from there, tossing a complete game as Canfield defeated Hamilton, 11-4, on Thursday at Fields of Dreams to advance in the 10-11 Little League State Tournament. Canfield, which is in the elimination bracket, plays Mount Vernon today at 5 p.m.

“[Cayavec]’s got a good bat — a big bat — and he knows his role and understands his role,” Canfield coach George Beck said. “When he’s called upon, that’s what we expect him to do. I was running out there — I didn’t know if it was gonna be fair — but [first-base coach] Dan Stricko said it was fair by about a foot. So thank goodness.

“And two homers got them an early lead, but A.J. threw a good ballgame today.”

Hamilton took a 2-0 lead after the top of the third thanks to Nick Brosius, who homered in his first two at-bats.

But Havrilla surrendered just one more hit the rest of the way. He allowed four runs on three hits in six innings while striking out five.

“My curveball was pretty good and my change-up was good,” Havrilla said. “Both of my off-speed [pitches] were working good. I felt more relaxed [after Cayavec’s double].”

Canfield followed its four-run third inning with a seven-run fourth.

Jake Schneider knocked a two-run double in the frame, Dominic Marzano had an RBI single and Ty Stricko notched a run-scoring fielder’s choice.

All the damage came after Hamilton starter Casey Parsons exited after 22/3 innings. He didn’t allow a hit, but walked nine and was charged with four runs.

“Something we did well today is when we got runners on base, we brought them in,” Beck said.

Havrilla finished with two hits in addition to his victory on the mound.

Canfield’s victory follows a 12-10 loss to Maumee on Tuesday. To win the tournament, Canfield must win four games coming from the losers bracket.

“It’s still going to be a long road,” Beck said. “If we want to win this thing, we have four games to go. But we just have to go one game at a time. That’s our mentality.”

Added Havrilla: “We have some good teams ahead of us, so we have to just play good tomorrow and hit the ball again.”