Five area teams vie for D-I title

May 11, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

STRUTHERS

The Division I sectional baseball tournament gets underway today with No. 2 Boardman garnering the area’s highest seed in the 11-team field.

Despite their 17-6 overall mark, the top-seeded Walsh Jesuit Warriors find themselves limping into the tournament as they look to end a two-game skid.

The Spartans are 12-10 overall, but 11-5 since returning from their Florida spring trip.

No. 5 Howland, No. 7 Austintown Fitch, No. 8 Warren Harding and No. 11 East round out the local contingent of schools looking to advance to next week’s district.

Semi-final action finds Howland hosting No. 10 Cuyahoga Falls, Fitch traveling to No. 6 Akron Ellet and Harding entertaining East.

The Warriors are a senior laden team, counting on 10 upperclass leaders — eight of whom have already committed to playing at the collegiate level.

Pitcher Dominic Canzone (5-1, 0.85 earned run average) is an Ohio State signee while Dan Mendenhall (4-0, 2.51 e.r.a.) and Jace Burke (1-1) round out the staff.

Hitters to keep an eye on are team average leader Canzone (.470), lead-off hitter Brendan Regan (.450), Mendenhall (.400) and Mac Shinsberry (.390).

Boardman head coach Joe Gabriel said his defense must be flawless if they expect to advance.

“Our offense isn’t quite there, so defense is the key,” he said. “If we kick it around, we could be in trouble so playing our best when we are in the field is paramount.”

Pitchers Hudson Woodrig (5-1, 0.68 ERA) and Jared Jay (2-1, 0.79 ERA) have combined for seven wins and are stingy at allowing runs while Lou Cardona (.384), team RBI leader Gaven Strines (.361) and Coleman Stauffer (.397) are the offensive stalwarts

Walsh Jesuit will take on No. 9 Akron North (3-9) in Thursday’s final while the Spartans will meet the winner of the Raiders (7-11) and Panthers (1-13).

“We’ve played giveaway and that has cost is in close games this season,” Warren Harding head coach Andrew Burnett said. “We have the pitching and hitting, but need to play sound defense.”

The Raiders’ top pitchers include Marcus Masters (3-2) and Doug Painter (2-2) while Mark Herron (.408) and Grant Williams (.406) are the offensive threats.

No. 3 Stow Munroe-Falls is 13-10 and No. 4 Kent Roosevelt 11-12 overall with both teams earning first-round byes.

The Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 12 games after a 2-9 start while the Rough Riders are just 2-5 in their last seven games and looking to end a two-game tailspin.

Stow-Munroe Falls will meet the winner of the Howland (11-11) and Cuyahoga Falls (2-22) game while Kent Roosevelt awaits the winner of the Fitch (8-9) and Akron Ellet (12-7) contest.

“Pitching has kept us in games and we’re hitting the ball much better right now,” Tigers head coach Sean Price noted. “We had 31 hits in our last two games, but just 10 hits in our previous five outings. When you don’t hit, it’s tough to beat anyone.”

Michael Massucci, Dylan Keller and Jacob Harsany are Howland’s mound aces with Craig Lewis (.508), Dylan Beesom (.375) and Nick Badjanek (.300) offensive threats.

Falcons head coach Wally Ford counts on Jared Kapturasky and Derek Gunter on the hill, and Dominic DiFrancesco, Brian Beany and Michael Grazier at the plate.