Julian Hernandez, Nik Wirsching lead CVCA to first baseball district title since 2004

The CVCA baseball team traveled to Gates Mills on Wednesday and took care of business against host Gilmour Academy.

Julian Hernandez hit a solo home run, Alex Mammone singled in a run and Nik Wirsching, Matthew Porter and Kyle Shaw handled the pitching to lead CVCA to a 2-1 win over Gilmour in a Division II district final.

CVCA (24-4) won its first district championship since 2004 and third overall to advance to meet reigning Division II state champion Chagrin Falls Kenston in a regional semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday at Canton's Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.

CVCA, which went 14-0 in the Principals Athletic Conference, has won 23 of its last 24 games.

Hernandez, a senior, finished 2-for-3 with the homer to lead off the bottom of the first that tied the score at 1-1.

"Of course, I was nervous and I was thinking, 'Is this going to be my last game?' But I feel like after that first inning and after that home run, I feel like that set the tone," Hernandez said. "I didn't even think I was going to hit a home run. After that home run, I was ready and I feel like it brought the whole team up and we had to win the game.

"... Honestly, this doesn't feel real. It was a crazy experience. It was one of the most fun and crazy games of my life. That last inning [when Gilmour loaded the bases], I was so scared. But coming out with that win, our whole team put a lot of effort into this."

Brady Olsen (single and triple) scored Gilmour's run in the first when Jake Kavcic reached base on a fielder's choice.

Mammone, a freshman, delivered a two-out RBI single in the fourth to score junior Ryan Wiehe. Sophomore Connor McGough and junior John Harabedian each added a single.

Wirsching (7-0), a junior, pitched 4⅓ innings and limited Gilmour (18-10) to one run, two walks and three hits. He struck out three and gave way to Porter, a senior, who pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings.

Shaw, a sophomore, recorded one out to get a save when CVCA sophomore third baseman Jacob Lancy fielded a ground ball and threw to senior first baseman Nicky Rovelli to end the game.

"We battled," CVCA coach Jason Herblet said. "We had a few scary situations. Gilmour is really good. We knew that going in. They play a really tough schedule. They have got two kids [Andy Kavcic and Jake Kavcic] — I think they are twins actually — who pitch very well."

Herblet liked what we saw from Wirsching and Shaw, and senior leaders Hernandez, Rovelli, Porter and Luke Wiggers.

"Jules set the tone early when he hit a home run in the first inning," Herblet said. "It was a no-doubter."

Kenston tops St. Vincent-St. Mary in OHSAA baseball district final

Grady Flynn hit a two-run double in the top of the eighth inning to propel Kenston to a 4-2 win over St. Vincent-St. Mary (18-11) in a Division II baseball district final at Twinsburg.

STVM's Max Milkovich scored in the first on a dropped popup in the infield and in the third when Rylan Hurley worked a bases-loaded walk.

Bridger Bischof lifted a sacrifice fly in the first to score Grant Beclay and give Kenston (14-14) a 1-0 lead. Tommy Pecoraro singled in Wes Toth to tie it 2-2 in the fourth.

Bischof and Griffin Marcoguiseppe each pitched four innings for Kentson. Marcoguiseppe earned the win without allowing a run. University of Akron recruit L.A Mighton went 3-for-4 for Kenston.

STVM coach Ben Shepherd will bid farewell to seniors Devon Lehman, Daniel Krabill, Connor Christie, Aidan Zwisler, Sam Donatelli and Milkovich.

Norwayne defeats Manchester in OHSAA baseball district final

Host Norwayne (22-4) won its first district title in 20 years by beating Manchester 12-2 in five innings in a Division III baseball district final.

"This group hit the ball better than we have the past few years," Manchester coach Shawn Johnston said. "We had a couple of pitchers [Brady Johnson and Ethan Wright] who carried us. We used our one and two the other day [against Chippewa] to get to this point. ... Norwayne is a really good team. They pitch well and hit well."

Norwayne led 6-0 in the first inning as Beau Polen, Mike Steingass, Ashton Snyder, Logan Dichler and Garrett Schmidt all had hits. Polen, Dylan Tanner and Mason Moyer had two hits apiece. Steingass, Snyder and Dichler each had two RBIs.

Johnston said Manchester (15-8) had "good senior leadership" from Johnson, Wright, Logan Carr, J.D. Long, Ben Armstrong and Konnor Gohlke.

Twinsburg shares baseball league championship with North Royalton

Host Twinsburg beat Nordonia 6-5 in a regular-season game to clinch a share of Suburban League National Conference championship with North Royalton (24-5, 13-1).

Twinsburg (20-5, 13-1) went 1-11 in SLNC games last season. The Tigers beat Hoban 7-5 in a Division I district semifinal Tuesday.

Jack Phillips paced the Tigers with a single, double, walk, two runs and an RBI. Aidan Taneja had a single, walk and two RBIs and Bobby Lemieux added a single, walk and two runs. Josh Stalnaker, Kris Kimmel and Lane Conway each had an RBI.

"This team is all fight and no quit," Twinsburg coach Jim Lipinski said. "We have had a number of great outings on the mound by quite a few different pitchers. Tonight it was Carter Klominek's turn as he went four innings of scoreless baseball to help secure the win."

Lexington tops Springfield in OHSAA softball regional semifinal

Lexington scored seven runs in the first inning and nine in the fourth on its way to a 18-1 win over Springfield (18-9) in five innings in a Division II regional semifinal at Shelby.

Lexington (27-2) hit four home runs. Quinn Patrick hit a two-run homer and Kylie Thornton, Kaylie Eichorn and Kylie Galownia each hit a three-run homer. Jillian Morr had four doubles, five RBIs and two runs. Thornton and Makaree Chapman each had three hits, and Chapman struck out 11 in five innings.

"They are legit," Springfield coach Shance Curry said of Lexington. "They hit the ball very well. They had great timely hits and they kept us off balance all day long. Their pitcher [Chapman] is good. We only got three hits off of her."

The result was vastly different from Springfield's wins last week in Parma against Elyria Catholic (10-0 in a district semifinal) and Oberlin Firelands (10-2 in a district final). Melaena Martin had a home run, a single and six RBIs against Elyria Catholic and had a single, double and three RBIs against Firelands.

Springfield graduates four starters — Destiny Ruggiero, Alyssa Hochstetler, Tia Holmes and Sydney Hillyard.

"They are a fantastic group of kids on the field and off the field," Curry said. "They are all very good in school, they are all going to college and they are all going to better themselves in life. They are all-around great kids."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: CVCA wins baseball district title; STVM, Manchester lose on diamond