Beachwood’s upcoming series with Independence on Monday and Tuesday will decide which team wins
the Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division. Both teams are 8-0 in conference play.

The Bison, 11-3 overall, are in position to win their second straight Metro championship in large part to the pitching performance of ace lefty Todd Goldberg. The senior is 5-0 on the mound with a 1.53 ERA and 53 strike outs in 31 innings pitched.

Goldberg has been even better in league play where he is 4-0 and has allowed just 5 earned runs and 8 hits with 42 strike outs in 25 innings. His league ERA is 1.4. He threw a 1-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Wickliffe on April 22 and a no-hit shutout against Richmond Heights on Monday.

“He’s been dominant,” said Beachwood head coach Ben Singer. “Against Wickliffe he almost had a no-hitter. He made one mistake pitch and the kid looped it to the outfield. He gave up just 1hit in his last 13 innings and ran his scoreless pitched streak to 19 innings.”

As always, Singer had high expectations for his senior, but even he is a bit surprised by Goldberg’s domination on the mound.

“We knew what to expect with him but you go 19 scoreless innings and throw a 1-hitter and a no-hitter back-to-back and that kind of exceeds that,” Singer said. “We expect big things from him and we have to keep counting on him the rest of the year.”

Goldberg approaches every game the same way. He sees every outing as a way to help his team win games and as a means of improving as a pitcher.

“My main goal is to get better every start,” Goldberg said. “Those last two games were nice, but I do things I need to work on. (Monday) was kind of a fastball heavy day. I felt like I needed to work on that. It was pretty good and I pitched inside-out. It felt good, no doubt.”

Driving Goldberg this season is the memory of last season’s District semifinal loss to Hawken. Goldberg wasn’t at his best that game and he has worked hard to prevent that from happening again this season.

“I was very, very mad that we got knocked out by Hawken,” he said. “I did not pitch a good game. This year we always preach to make it to Massillon, the regionals, because anything can happen from there.”

Goldberg admits to being his own worst critic, but he’s got something else driving him. His brother Brad is a redshirt senior pitcher at Ohio State. In his first season with the Buckeyes after transferring from Coastal Carolina, Brad Goldberg is 6-0 with a 2.92 ERA in 58.2 innings pitched.

The elder Goldberg holds Beachwood’s school record with 102 strike outs in a single season and was a four-time all-conference performer. He was the MVP of the CVC Metro Division as a senior.

“I watched my brother growing up and I want to be better than he is if I can be,” Todd Goldberg said. “My expectations are always bigger than what I am, but I want to see how close I can get.”

Goldberg will take the mound on Monday in Game 1 of the decisive series with Independence.

“That’s a huge series,” he said. “Ever since I was a ninth grader they’ve been state-bound or always consistently a good program.”

College coaches have taken notice of Goldberg’s performance and ability. He has heard from several college programs including Cincinnati, Kent State, Ohio University, Morehead State and a few others.

To view scouting notes from games across Ohio, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week. 

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