Blue Streaks break through for CVC Lake baseball title in 2024 season

May 10—Staff Report

Madison conquered the Chagrin Valley Lake Division baseball competition to win the conference title.

The Blue Streaks finished 9-1 in the CVC Lake, falling only to Geneva 6-0 on April 24.

Madison registered 4-3 and 6-5 wins over Edgewood and Geneva, respectively, to help win the crown.

It was the Blue Streaks' first conference baseball title in 44 years.

"I have always believed that pitching and defense is the best way to stay competitive and win games," Madison coach Brian Titman said. "So we have always worked that side of the ball a bit more.

"After last season ended, I decided to flip things around for us as we simply weren't scoring runs. I got with our guys in August and we made a conscious decision to dedicate ourselves to getting better offensively. Our guys worked extremely hard in the batting cage throughout the offseason."

The work paid off.

Madison's team batting average, OBP and runs per game have all increased this season.

"Our lineup has been complete 1-9 with guys getting the job done," Titman said.

Nolan Thomas, Eddy G'vora and Evan Smith are the top hitters.

On the mound, G'vora, Thomas, Landon Tomco and Seth Negin lead the way.

"Our pitching staff has been fantastic for us," Titman said. "We aren't reinventing the wheel. It is no secret that throwing strikes is monumental for pitching success."

Titman said the pitchers have lowered the team ERA and in four less games, have 15 more strikeouts than last year.

Of course, hitting and pitching are just aspects of baseball. Making plays on the field is just as crucial as the other two areas.

"Our defense has been outstanding this year," Titman said. "Our infield, led by Seth Negin, Ben Amos and Nathan Yarnell, have been as reliable as you could want an infield to be.

"Our outfield had one error all season, and were led by Evan Smith, Dom Lawrence and Jack Harrison. They've been flying around the outfield all year, which has saved us a ton of runs. A position of concern going into the season was catcher. We knew we had Eddy, but Alex Davis and Brendan Titman developed into help in that position extremely well to allow us to not skip a beat."

Brian Titman has lauded the team's chemistry this season.

"Most important to our success I believe was our culture," he said. "From our JV up through our varsity, they are each other's biggest fans and supporters of each other.

"Programs and teams cannot be successful if they do not have that. It allowed us to have confidence in each other and provided an environment of optimism and trust that is essential to any team that hopes to achieve anything of significance."

This is Madison's first season in the CVC after years of competing in the Western Reserve Conference.

"The WRC might be the best baseball conference in the state," Titman said. "Over the years, I have been so proud of our players for going out there every day and giving their best, while most of us knew we were significantly overmatched physically, economically, school size and facilities.

"Moving to the CVC allowed our guys to compete with schools that in almost every way are similar to us. All you want for your kids is a playing field that allows you every day to win if you play well and if you don't play well you could lose. I am really proud of the style of baseball my guys played with this year."

Madison is scheduled to open the Division II postseason as the eighth seed, hosting either No. 10 Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin or No. 21 Struthers at 5 p.m. on Wednesday

in a sectional final contest.

"Our feelings are strong going into postseason play," Titman said. "My guys have no sense of arrogance about them, but they do have supreme confidence in each other.

"Since we returned from Myrtle Beach, we have played one really bad game. Other than our first game against Perry, our guys have played very solid baseball in every aspect. My hope is that whoever we end up playing in the tournament we play with the same passion, discipline and unity that has made us successful this year."