Moeller and Mason's future bout, Beechwood's bats highlight baseball storylines

Despite the rainouts and the tornado warnings that endanger spring sports schedules, the movers and shakers of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky high school baseball have made their presence known.

From Moeller's undefeated hunt for a second-straight title to a 10-inning pitchers duel in Kentucky, here are some early-season storylines in high school baseball.

No surprise: Moeller still the Division I leader in Ohio

The defending Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state champions have yet to drop a game so far in 2024, extending a streak of domination back to last year's championship season.

Moeller's last loss came nearly a year ago when the Crusaders fell 6-5 at Elder on April 24, 2023. Since that loss, Moeller has won 24 consecutive games, with a 7-0 start this season. Since starting 4-2 in 2023, Moeller has won 34 of its last 35 games.

Through the seven games this year, Moeller's average margin of victory sits at just under 10.5 runs per game. The Crusaders' biggest flex of the year came in the Greater Catholic League-South opener against Elder that Moeller took 19-2 in five innings.

Junior Carter Christenson and sophomore Matt Ponatoski pace the GCL-South with a .533 average in six games played while senior Will McCullough boasts a .500 average.

More: Which Greater Cincinnati high school hurlers are off to hot starts?

In seven innings pitched, junior Zion Theophilus has a 3-0 record and 13 strikeouts. David Hagen leads the Crusaders with 14 strikeouts in eight innings.

Look ahead to the April 20 showdown

While Moeller owns the top ranking in the state in Division I by the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association, the Mason Comets aren't too far behind with the No. 3 ranking.

The two powerhouses last met in the 2022 regional finals where Mason got the better of the Crusaders 4-1 to reach the state tournament. Mason and Moeller will meet again this year on Saturday, April 20, at Prasco Park.

Mason is 8-1 so far in 2024, its lone loss coming to Indiana's Hamilton Southeastern on March 30.

Mason senior pitchers Michael Bilo, Bryce Brannon and Jacob Hanley already have two wins each. Hanley has pitched 7.2 innings across his pair of starts, striking out 15 and allowing just a single earned run. Hanley also has the only home run hit by Comet batters.

Conner removes Covington Catholic's zero

The Covington Catholic Colonels were 10-0 entering a Saturday, April 6, doubleheader with Conner and Dixie Heights. Covington Catholic took care of business with Dixie Heights, winning 3-0. Against Conner, a trade of scoreless innings brought the teams to the 10th inning where Conner finally plated a run for a 1-0 victory.

Neither team allowed a hit through seven innings and Conner pitchers allowed just two hits to the Colonels in 10 innings. Senior Owen Louden was the hero at the plate. Louden was 2-5 and knocked in Gabe Huff with a squeeze in the 10th to win the game.

After the Saturday slate, Conner sat with a 6-5 mark.

Despite the blemish, Covington Catholic dominated in the Ninth Region and beyond. In 12 games, Covington Catholic's 92 runs scored are second in the region to Beechwood's 113 runs, but the big difference comes from the pitching. The Colonels have allowed just 16 runs to score this year.

Bradley Zekl is 4-0 in five starts with 28 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched with a 1.22 earned run average. Eli Wagner and Marcus Suwinski also have two wins to the record.

Beechwood busts out the bats

The Beechwood Tigers have jumped to an 8-3 record in 11 games and have won six consecutive games from March 26 to April 7. In that stretch, the Tigers have scored 81 runs, including 19 in five innings over Lloyd Memorial and 16 in a three-inning shutout of Newport.

The Tigers have a batting average of .326 as a team and are 32-36 on stolen base attempts.

Michael Detzel leads the Tigers with 10 hits, seven of which went as a double. Tyler Fryman has a .346 mark in 10 games and has swiped nine bags. Fryman is also the only Tiger with at least one double, triple and home run and has scored a team-high 20 runs.

Kings and Milford near early test for ECC crown

The 7-1 Kings Knights may possess the best overall record in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, but Milford sits first in the conference standings.

Milford's record is 5-3 overall but the Eagles have a 4-0 conference record to Kings' 3-0 ECC mark. That'll change on Tuesday, April 9, when the two meet at Kings for the first time. The winner of that meeting will get a jump out in the title race as both look to reclaim the championship. Lebanon and West Clermont split the ECC last year while Kings was the champion in 2019 and 2022. Milford last won the conference solo in 2015 splitting it with Loveland in 2016 and 2018.

Turpin sits in third in the ECC with a 4-2 record having lost to Milford twice.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: High school baseball: Ohio, Kentucky storylines so far in 2024