Chardon tops Hoban in Division II baseball state championship game

Archbishop Hoban finished the 2022 baseball season as Division II state runner-up to Chardon on Saturday night at Canal Park in Akron.

The Hilltoppers scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to rally and earn an 8-5 win over the Knights, the defending state champions.

"We lost to a great group in Chardon," Hoban coach Andrew Bonnette said. "Their coaching staff, their players — nothing but class across the board. If we are going to lose to somebody, that is a great ball team. They hit the snot out of the ball."

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Hoban pitchers senior Landon Ladany, freshman Andrew Karhoff, junior Luke Driscoll and senior Shawn Parnell struggled with their control and combined to hit eight Chardon batters and walk two. The Hilltoppers finished with 10 hits.

Hoban's top pitchers, sophomore Noah LaFine and senior Caleb Kepler, were not available Saturday after pitching in Friday's 4-3 state semifinal win over Hamilton Badin.

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"Baseball is such a hindsight sport, especially when somebody goes out there and isn't successful," Bonnette said. "We had a couple of guys who came into this game and had never been a part of a game like this before. They were just trying to eat up an out or two and make it to the next inning and survive. It just didn't work out for us.

"This is a great group of kids that were willing to grind, work hard and be ready at anytime."

Hoban (23-10) built a 5-3 lead through five innings, but was unable to repeat as a state champ. The Knights were also state runners-up in 1993 and 2011.

Chardon (24-10) won its first state title in baseball. The Hilltoppers were also a state semifinalist in 1940, 1942 and 1950.

Chardon took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when freshman Stone Fawcett and junior Ethan Faber crossed home plate. Fawcett hit a double and scored when senior Kyle Maronde grounded out, and Faber walked and scored on a double by sophomore Will Francis.

Hoban countered with two runs apiece in the second and third innings.

Freshman Jordan Kievman smacked a triple to score Parnell and senior Matt Terzola lined a single to plate Kievman in the second to make it 2-2.

Sophomore Parker Falkenstein delivered a single in the third to bring home junior Zack Zimmerman and Parnell to give Hoban a 4-2 lead.

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Maronde tripled and scored on a single by Faber in the fourth to cut Chardon's deficit to 4-3. Hoban sophomore Michael Ciavolella walked and scored on an error in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-3.

Chardon's five-run sixth inning featured three hits, three hit batters and a wild pitch. Sophomore Leo Colombi and senior Christian Hall each singled and scored a run, and Faber, Francis and junior Nolan Kirsh were hit by pitches and all scored.

Hall's single scored Colombi, Kirsh plated Faber, Francis scored on a wild pitch and Hall and Kirsh came around on a two-run single by junior Jake Barker, who is former Cleveland pitcher Len Barker's youngest son.

"We hit top to bottom [in the lineup], one through nine," Chardon coach Brian Long said. "Most games with teams who win, teams at this level, state champions — they can hit top to bottom. We have been saying this all season. Our lineup, look at Barker, two hits; Fawcett, one hit; Colombi, two hits; Maronde, two hits. Our bottom of the lineup won us the game. When you can hit one through nine, it is something special.

"That is a great Hoban team. That is so much talent over there, but we earned this. We worked very hard for this. This is a special group."

Ciavolella was hit by a pitch in the sixth and Parnell singled in the seventh, but neither scored as double plays ended each inning.

Chardon junior Brandon Fatur pitched 2⅔ innings in relief to get the win. Hall started the game and allowed four runs in 2⅓ innings, gave way to Fature and then returned to the mound to pitch a scoreless sixth and seventh to record a save.

It was the second meeting of the season for Hoban and Chardon. The host Knights recorded a 7-5 win in a regular-season game on May 30 between district and regional tournament games for each team.

A victory Saturday would have given Hoban a 24-9 record and a state title for the second year in a row.

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Bonnette said four seniors have committed to play baseball in college: Parnell (Cincinnati), Terzola (Baldwin Wallace), Max Alexander (Hiram) and Nolan Holmgren (Marshall).

"The nice thing is these two runs have tested these young guys like crazy," Bonnette said. "They are going to be battle tested for next season. These runs, a lot of people don't see the aftermath of this. I will say it makes a kid tougher to survive and make it through this.

"... A one-game playoff with all of the stress, there is no replacement for experience. When you have playoff experience and you have been here before, now those kids go off to their next team and their next program and they are better for it. I am happy for our kids that they have been able to experience this and take it to the next level."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at  www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Chardon tops Hoban to win Division II baseball state championship