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2019 Baseball State Tournament Recaps

Division I State Final

Cleveland St. Ignatius 4, Mentor 2
After Winning Longest State Tournament Game in OHSAA History in Semifinal, St. Ignatius Needs Extra Innings to Win Second State Title
 
AKRON, Ohio – Two days after beating Hilliard Darby 4-2 in 13 innings, the longest baseball state tournament game in OHSAA history, No. 19 Cleveland St. Ignatius (24-8-1) needed 10 innings to defeat No. 18 Mentor (22-6) 4-2 in the 2019 OHSAA Division I baseball state championship game Sunday at Canal Park in Akron.
 
Deadlocked at two in the top of the 10th inning, St. Ignatius utilized two extra-base hits and an error on a pickoff attempt to score two runs and clinch the championship trophy.
 
Junior shortstop Michael McNamara led off the 10th for the Wildcats and came through with his only hit of the game with a triple to the corner in left field. Senior third baseman Michael Holdsworth followed with an RBI double to deep right-center field to give Ignatius a 3-2 lead. Holdsworth advanced to third on a groundout and then scored the game’s final run on a failed pickoff attempt and Mentor fielding error.
 
Ignatius’ senior designated hitter Flynn Lenahan led the game with four hits, helping the Wildcats outhit Mentor 9-2. Junior pitcher Luke Lashutka closed the final five innings for Ignatius and struck out a game-high eight batters of the 15 he faced, while only giving up a single hit.
 
It was Mentor’s sixth trip the OHSAA baseball state tournament and third state runner-up finish. Mentor defeated No. 12 Springboro 4-0 in the state semifinal.
 
Cleveland St. Ignatius now has two baseball state championships in five trips to the title game, with the other coming in 2002.
 
Semifinal Scores
Mentor 4, Springboro 0
Cleveland St. Ignatius 4, Hilliard Darby 2 (13 inn.)

Division IV State Final

Toronto 3, Jeromesville Hillsdale 1
Toronto Wins First Baseball Title Since 1998
 
AKRON, Ohio – Division IV OHSBCA Division IV Payer of the Year Nate Karaffa’s complete-game 12-strike-out performance fueled No. 6 Toronto to a 3-1 victory over No. 4 Jeromesville Hillsdale in the 2019 OHSAA Division IV baseball state championship game Sunday at Canal Park in Akron.
 
Karaffa, Toronto’s senior ace, gave up just two hits in the game and no walks to go along with his state-tournament-high 12 strikeouts.
 
The Red Knights’ offense assisted Karaffa with three runs on 10 hits and two walks, with Karaffa having three of the 10 hits.
 
Toronto’s scoring began in the top of the third inning as outfielders Nick Chetock and Lucas Gulczynski led off with back-to-back singles. Karaffa aided his cause with an infield single that resulted in Chetock reaching home safely on a fielding error by Hillsdale. Senior second baseman Nick Sninchak then added a single of his own to score Gulczynski and make it 2-0, a lead that Toronto would not relinquish.
 
Hillsdale’s only run came in the bottom of the sixth inning from a two-out RBI double down the left-field line by junior third baseman Briar Funk. Funk was subsequently stranded at second thanks to one of Karaffa’s strikeouts.
 
Toronto added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning with a two-out RBI single by Sninchak, his second of the game.
 
It was Hillsdale’s first trip to the OHSAA baseball state tournament in school history.
 
The Red Knights’ 3-1 victory gave them their second OHSAA baseball state title and first since 1998.
 
Total attendance for the state tournament was 12,081.
 
Semifinal Scores
Jeromesville Hillsdale 1, Minster 0
Toronto 8, Antwerp 0

Division II State Final

Dayton Chaminade Julienne 4, Gates Mills Gilmour Academy 2
Dayton Chaminade Julienne Wins Back-to-Back State Titles
 
AKRON, Ohio – Top-ranked Dayton Chaminade Julienne won its second-consecutive baseball state championship with a 4-2 win over No. 10 Gates Mills Gilmour Academy in the 2019 OHSAA Division II state title game Sunday at Canal Park in Akron.
 
With a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh, Chaminade Julienne (27-2) junior designated hitter Andrew Tillman and sophomore infielder AJ Solomon then hit back-to-back singles to center field and senior outfielder Andrew Simones loaded the bases with a walk. Senior shortstop Nick Wissman, who already accounted for the team’s two RBIs thus far, came through again with a single between the shortstop and third baseman that sent Tillman and Solomon home to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead with just a half inning to play.
 
Gilmour Academy (25-7) looked to have a rally brewing after back-to-back singles by sophomore shortstop Ben Demell and senior catcher Nick Christopher put them on first and third to start the bottom of the seventh inning. The following at bat scored Demell from third but the play resulted in the 6-4-3 double play that left the Lancers down 4-2 with two outs and no one on base.
 
Chaminade Julienne clinched its second-straight title with a line out to center on the ensuing at bat.
 
It was Gates Mills Gilmour Academy’s second trip to the OHSAA baseball state tournament and first appearance in the title game. The Lancers defeated St. Clairsville 2-0 in its semifinal matchup.
 
Dayton Chaminade Julienne is the sixth school to win back-to-back OHSAA baseball state championships, with the most recent example coming from Newark Catholic in 2015 and 2016. Only Newark Catholic (2002-2004) and Cincinnati Elder (1958-1960) have won three-consecutive state titles.
 
Semifinal Scores
Gates Mills Gilmour Academy 2, St. Clairsville 0
Dayton Chaminade Julienne 2, Van Wert 0

Division III State Final

Coldwater 1, West Lafayette Ridgewood 0
Hemmelgarn’s Two-Out RBI in the Fourth Inning Gives Coldwater Seventh Baseball State Title
 
AKRON, Ohio – Held hitless through the first three innings, No. 2 Coldwater senior pitcher Jacob Wenning broke in to the hitting with a single to center field and was pushed home two batters later by junior shortstop Jake Hemmelgarn for the game’s only run, as the Cavaliers (27-6) won their seventh OHSAA baseball state championship with a 1-0 victory over West Lafayette Ridgewood (24-10) in the Division III title game Sunday night at Canal Park in Akron.
 
In addition to scoring the game-winning run, Wenning pitched a complete game, giving up no runs on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Only one of the four hits came after Coldwater took its 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
Hoping to repeat the magic of its walk-off win over Canton Central Catholic in the semifinals the night before, Ridgewood’s junior catcher Chase Minet singled up the middle to begin the seventh inning. A ground out advanced Minet to second.
 
Facing a 1-2 count, junior first baseman Connor Kunze hit a line drive back up the middle that looked as if it would send Minet home for the tying run, but Wenning made a fantastic back-hand catch at the mound and forced the double play at second, as Minet was already rounding third, to end the game.
 
Ridgewood’s junior pitcher Koleton Smith pitched a complete game, giving up the lone run on three hits and a walk.
 
It was West Lafayette Ridgewood’s first trip the OHSAA baseball state tournament.
 
Coldwater now ranks fourth all-time with seven state titles, behind Cincinnati Elder’s 12, Newark Catholic’s nine and Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller’s eight. It was Coldwater’s  21st trip to the state tournament, an OHSAA record.
 
Semifinal Scores
Coldwater 12, St. Bernard Roger Bacon 7
West Lafayette Ridgewood 6, Canton Central Catholic 5