By Chris Webb

Division III Canton Central Catholic (26-8) 7, Cincinnati Madeira (23-2) 5

The Division III final was bumped to Sunday morning due to severe weather that rolled into Columbus prior to the Saturday 7 p.m. start. That extra day would greatly benefit Canton Central Catholic and aid their championship aspirations.

With the Sunday start, CCC was able to give an extra day of rest for ace Joe Tann, who tossed 140 pitches in the complete game victory over Defiance Tinora on Friday.

Before the ball was turned over to Tann in relief, the two teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle.

Sophomore center field Jake Krupar walked to start the game before Tann, who started the game at shortstop drove him home with a double. Back-to-back singles to right field by Alex Grove and Ryan Pack would score Tann and Grove respectively to push three runs across for CCC in the opening inning.

Grove and Pack would be at it again in the third as Grove reached base by a throwing error from Maderia second baseman Matt Ballweg, that would be followed by Pack?s double to center to extend the lead to 4-0 and knock out Maderia starter Stephen Beamer in the process.  With Andrew Benintendi on the mound, the first batter he faced, CCC pitcher Brad Frohamn, singled in Pack who advanced to second a batter earlier thanks to an Anthony Paone single.

With the score 5-0 after two and a half innings, CCC appeared to be on their way to a state championship, but the second-half of the inning showed Madeira wasn?t going to go down easy.

A leadoff walk by Beamer was followed by Benintendi singling up the middle to put to Madeira runners on base. Frohman would strikeout the next two batters, but couldn?t escape trouble as a Zach Jansen single and an error by third baseman Patrick Stump allowed Beamer and Benintendi to score and to cut into the deficit.

After each team posted scoreless frames in the fourth inning, Madeira would do more than cut into the lead; they would tie the game with a three-run fifth. Stump replaced Frohman on the mound with two outs in the fourth inning, and would need replaced before recording an out in the fifth. A HBP and back-to-back four-pitch walks loaded the bases and ended Stmup?s outing.

From that point, CCC coach Doug Miller turned to his ace Tann to carry his team to the title. Blake Amquist would pinch-hit for Madeira and come through with an RBI-single, which was followed by Timmy James? two-run single to tie the game at 5-5. Tann retired the next three batters to limit the damage and keep his team from trailing.

After getting out of the jam with his arm, Tann?s bat pushed CCC through in the sixth. Tyler Triner was sacrificed to second by Krupar following his leadoff single. Tann?s single to right field would push across the eventual winning run as Triner scored. Tann scored an insurance run two batters later as Pack capped a big day with an RBI single up the middle.

Madeira went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth and quickly had two outs against them in the seventh before James doubled with two-outs. After a Johnny Wood walk, the winning run was at the plate for Madeira in Beamer, but Tann struck him out to end the game and give CCC its second state title, joining their 2008 championship.

Tann and Pack had big days for CCC. Tann pitched the final three innings without allowing a run, surrendering three hits while striking out four. With the win, Tann finished the season 11-1. At the plate Tann went two-for-three with two runs and two RBI. Tann?s double was matched by one from Pack who went four-for-four with three RBI.

James went three-for-four at the plate for Madeira while leadoff hitter Benintendi went two-for-four. Benintendi took the hard-luck loss as he allowed the final two runs, the only two he allowed over five innings off six hits.