Ed Puskas: No winners when OHSAA has to step in

Balls and strikes.

Winners and losers.

Win or go home.

That’s the nature of high school baseball at tournament time.

It’s all good on the field, where these things should be decided. There are but four teams — in separate divisions — whose seasons will end happily.

That’s sports. It’s why we play the games.

But sometimes winners and losers are determined 180 miles away in an office in Columbus. That’s when things get sticky and ugly.

Hubbard learned that the hard way last week, less than 24 hours after its thrilling 11-10 upset of Poland on Wednesday in a Division II sectional final.

By early afternoon the next day, the Eagles were out of the tournament after the program was determined to be in violation of OHSAA Bylaw 9-2-1.

It reads:

Schools may travel out of state to compete in contests in states or provinces in Canada that are contiguous to Ohio regardless of distance to travel. The states include Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The province includes Ontario. Additionally, schools may travel out of state one time per sport per interscholastic season to compete in contests in states or provinces in Canada that are not contiguous to Ohio provided there is no loss of school time. “School time” is defined as any time during any day during which the school is in session as stipulated in its Board-adopted school calendar exclusive of contingency days. Penalty for violation: The school shall be ineligible for the OHSAA postseason tournament in the sport in which the out-of-state travel was involved and could be subject to additional penalties as referenced in Bylaw 11.

Hubbard played games in Tennessee in late March, during school time, instead of during spring break, which began on April 19.

It’s a silly rule and the penalty is steep. The mistake cost the Eagles their season.

If you’re looking for a precedent, just ask Akron St. Vincent-Mary, which had its baseball and softball teams banned from tournament play for violating the same OHSAA bylaw. The Irish teams also traveled to Tennessee in late March during school time.

But the OHSAA learned of the SVSM violations much earlier and the state’s prep sports governing body issued a ruling on April 11.

Hubbard’s faux pas apparently did not come to light until after the Eagles beat the Bulldogs.

It isn’t just Hubbard that should feel slighted. Girard — the team the Eagles beat 8-1 in a sectional semifinal — has a case, too.

By OHSAA rule, when a team is disqualified during a tournament, only the last team it defeated is affected. So Poland takes Hubbard’s spot in a Division II district semifinal against Niles on Monday at Cene Park. Tough luck, Girard. But even tougher luck for the Hubbard players, who did nothing wrong.

And while Poland gets new life in the tournament, it comes with the price of innuendo and rumor about how it all went down. That’s not fair to the Bulldogs’ players, who also did nothing wrong.

There are no winners when teams’ fates are decided in a board room. But there are questions, and to date, few answers.

We reached out to Hubbard baseball coach John Schiraldi and athletic director Chuck Montgomery and Poland baseball coach Rich Murray and AD Brian Banfield, but none of them have responded.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.