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NDCL stuns Walsh Jesuit in state baseball final

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June 14, 2009

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Heading into the Division II state championship June 6, Walsh Jesuit baseball coach Chris Kaczmar had never experienced defeat in five trips to the state final four.

Unfortunately for Kaczmar and the Warriors, the title game proved to be a whole new experience.

Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin got a great pitching performance from Erik Okleson and just enough offense to score a 2-1 win at Huntington Park in Columbus.

Walsh finished the season at 29-4.

There were a few tears in the Warriors' dugout after the game, particularly when Kaczmar embraced each one of his outgoing seniors. However, Kaczmar said his team had nothing to be ashamed of.

"What a tremendous high school baseball game," Kaczmar said. "It's too bad someone had to lose that game because both teams played so well.

"It was won of those things in baseball you can't always control," Kaczmar added. "We got unlucky in the second [with a play at the plate] and they got the big hit when they needed it."

Warriors catcher and Stow native James Toland, who played in his third state title game, said the loss would hurt for awhile, but not too long.

"It hurts ending my career this way," Toland said. "I tried my hardest to become a three-time state champion, but they played better than us [June 6].

"It's been great to win two state championships with this team," he added. "I can't let this get me down too much. I'm not going to drag my head because we were state runner-up."

Kaczmar said he was going to miss his seniors regardless of the outcome of the title game.

"This game will never define us," Kaczmar said. "I would not be holding true to my word from the beginning of the season if it did. These seniors have had a tremendous career. I'll always remember the 2009 season as a complete joy."

Warriors score early

The title game was a rematch of the 2006 Division II state championship game, which Walsh won 3-0.

Early on, it looked like the Warriors were headed for another happy ending.

After Walsh center fielder Matt Pollock struck out to start the top of the first inning, third baseman Joe Pawlowski stood in.

Pawlowski swung at the first pitch he saw and launched it over the 22-foot wall in right field. Pawlowski's third home run of the season gave Walsh a 1-0 lead.

However, that would be it for the Warriors offense, as Okleson allowed only one more hit in the ballgame -- a single by designated hitter John Mastronicolas in the top of the second.

Okleson (7-0) struck out six Warriors while only allowing those two hits. He walked four and hit two batters en route to a complete-game win.

"He was the story of the game," Kaczmar said. "He kept us off-balance most of the game. I didn't coach a very good baseball game [June 6]. I didn't have our guys make the adjustments they needed to."

"Our team really struggles with slower pitching," Toland said. "We were having a hard time with his offspeed stuff."

Meanwhile, the Lions were able to tie the game in the bottom of the second, thanks to three straight singles.

With one out, third baseman Matt Bencic hit a sharp single to center field, followed by a seeing-eye single to left by right fielder Josh Schuette.

Lions designated hitter Sean Striker then hit a looping base hit to right. Walsh right fielder Matt Keller quickly retrieved the ball and made a nice throw to the plate, but a perfect slide from Bencic allowed him to avoid the tag from Toland and score the run.

Walsh starting pitcher Greg Greve (7-1) pitched well in the loss. In fact, after the run scored, he set down 11 Lions in a row.

Greve finished by allowing two earned runs off four hits, one walks and two strikeouts in five innings of work.

The problem for Walsh was Okleson matched Greve's sharpness, retiring 12 straight batters between the third and seventh innings.

With the score tied at 1-1, NDCL got the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Lions left fielder Rob Searles led off the inning with a single. That hit prompted Kaczmar to relieve Greve with Tyler Skulina, who was coming off a complete-game win in the state semifinal game.

"[Greve] had thrown a lot of pitches and it was a hot day," Kaczmar said. "Tyler came on and gave us everything he had on one day's rest."

Lions shortstop Alex Toth then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Searles to second, which was followed by a fly out to right by catcher Dave Meade.

Skulina then had some control problems, as a wild pitch allowed Searles to go to third and first baseman Mike Szabo walked.

Bencic then stood in smashed a single up the middle, allowing Searles to score the go-ahead run.

Needing to reply in the top of the seventh, Walsh left fielder Anthony Pucci tried to bunt his way on, but was thrown out.

Walsh was then given a glimmer of hope as Mastronicolas drew a walk and sophomore Kolton Snyder came on to pinch run. Toland then drew a walk to put runners on first and second and freshman Forrest Perron came on to pinch run.

Pollock then stood in and hit a grounder to third, which Bencic collected and stepped on third to retire Snyder.

It was then up to Pawlowski, but Pawlowski hit a fly ball to center field which the Lions' Nick Cappello caught, setting off celebrations for the Lions.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113




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