AKRON — Northview will play for the Division I baseball state championship Saturday after slipping past Chagrin Falls Kenston 3-2 in Friday’s semifinal at Canal Park in Akron.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Wildcats (25-8), seemingly a team of destiny, took advantage of three Kenston miscues to win the game on a walk-off wild pitch.
“I think about halfway down the line I was in tears, because this was our first appearance at states,” said junior pinch-runner Ayden Hall, who raced home for the winning run. “I wanted to do it for my teammates. That was a top-10 moment in my life right there.”
Northview returns to Canal Park on Saturday for a 4 p.m. D-I title game contest against Grove City (26-7).
The Wildcats will vie for their first state title after a wild walk-off.
“It's baseball,” Northview coach Greg Szparka said. “They’re high school kids. They make mistakes. We've got to take advantage of it.”
Leading off the seventh, Northview left fielder Alex Prymas reached on a throwing error.
Next, Wildcat catcher Garrett Draper's sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a single when Kenston pitcher Jake Vasil was ruled to be off the bag on the flip from first baseman Drew McKenna, putting two runners aboard.
Northview center fielder and No. 9 hitter Braden Tackett bunted to move Prymas and pinch-runner Hall over, and Prymas was tagged out at home on Wildcat second baseman Benny Seals' subsequent fielder's-choice grounder to shortstop for the second out.
Kenston coach Joe Hritz opted to walk Wildcat right fielder Riley Ames (2-for-3) to load the bases for shortstop and No. 3 hitter Brodey Acres.
On the next pitch, Vasil, who had allowed just five hits and struck out 10 batters, skipped one past catcher L.A. Mighton. That enabled Hall to streak in and dive home with the dramatic game-winning run, emptying a jubilant Northview dugout as teammates mobbed Hall.
“Day in and day out we talk about making the routine plays and not making mistakes,” Szparka said. “We took advantage of a couple mistakes that they made, and it came out in our favor.”
Hall said he felt nerves kick in once he arrived at third base, victory just 90 feet away.
“I was walking down the third-base line, and I just read the pitch,” Hall said. “I took my moment and showed off the wheels.”
Northview has a chance to become the first D-I team from the immediate Toledo area to win a state baseball championship since Start in 2000.
This ending was a far cry from the beginning of the game for a Northview team that has never won a league title, and before this current tournament run had never won a district championship.
The Wildcats and junior pitcher Garrett Zimmerman got off to a turbulent start in the opening inning, allowing one run after loading the bases with no outs, before an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play minimized the damage.
“That double play was the biggest play of the game, in my opinion,” Zimmermann said.
Visibly boosted by the momentum-changing twin-killing, the Northview offense responded with two runs on three hits, and was aided by a Bombers' error, in taking a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first.
Ames doubled to center with one out, and Acres reached on an infield single. On a grounder to second destined to be an inning-ending double play, Bombers second baseman Shane Rothlisberger's throw was dropped by shortstop Carter Flynn, enabling Ames to score from second.
With two out, Northview's Benny Crooks came up with a clutch RBI single to left on a 0-2 pitch to plate Acres and put the Wildcats ahead.
The Bombers (18-9) got their first hit of the game off of Zimmerman in the fifth inning, and ended up tying the game on a trick-play-turned-miscue by the Wildcats.
Flynn led off with a single to left, was bunted to second by Logan Koller, and advanced to third on Mighton's flyout to center.
When Northview tried a hidden-ball play to tag Flynn out at third, the Wildcats were called for a balk because Zimmerman (without the ball) was ruled to have been illegally in the mound area on the play.
Flynn was awarded home, and Kenston had tied the game at 2.
But, Zimmerman shut the Bombers down from there.
He yielded just two hits over seven innings in pushing his record to 9-4. He struck out four, walked four, and hit a batter.
“It's exciting,” said Zimmerman, who threw 60 of his 100 pitches for strikes. “What can I say? We're in the championship. That's what we've strived for all year from day one. There's been some hiccups, but we knew it was going to happen.”
Szparka credited Zimmerman for his resilience.
“There's no question he was wasn't at his best today,” the Northview coach said, “but all we ever ask our kids to do is compete and give us a chance to win, and he did a tremendous job.”
Grove City posted a 4-1 win over No. 2-ranked Mason, a team boasting five NCAA Division I baseball recruits, in its semifinal.
“We're going to go enjoy this for a little bit, and these kids will be gung-ho and ready to go,” Szparka said. “These are tremendous kids. They work together, and I couldn't be happier for them.”
First Published June 10, 2022, 3:55 p.m.