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By Dylan Hefflinger
Editor in Chief/NW Scout

Ohio Spring baseball always seems to fly by and in 2017 that is most definitely evident with the fact we are in Regionals Week. That means the 16 best teams in each division will battle it out to see who is deserving of a trip to beautiful Huntington Park in Columbus.

Below we have the 16-Team Preview for Division I all the teams across the Buckeye State.

To view the Final Team Rankings, click below:
+ Division I
+ Division II
+ Division III
+ Division IV

To view the 2017 Preseason All-State Selections, click below:
+ Division I
+ Division II
+ Division III
+ Division IV

Interested in nominating someone for the 2017 All-State Teams, please click here.

To see in-game video, scouting notes and much more, visit the 2017 Scout Blog.

Interested in attending a PBR Ohio event? Check out our schedule by clicking here.

To discuss the 2017 OHSAA Tournament as well as any sort of high school baseball talk, visit our partner JJHuddle.

2017 OHSAA  Baseball Tournament - Regional Preview: Division I

Team Rankings based on the Final Team Rankings

Division I

Division I, Region 1 - Canton 

Region Overview:
Team Previews:

Mentor

Record: 17-9
Final Ranking: No. 38
Preseason Ranking: NR
Highest Ranking: No. 38 - Final
Postseason History:

Team Stats:

• .312 AVG, 180 R 
• 1.83 ERA, 157 K

Top Players:

• Nick Smith: .444 AVG, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 28 RBIs, 26 R. 37.2 IP, 6-1, 0.55 ERA, 32 K
• Nathan Birtley: .379 AVG, 6 2B, 2 3B, 23 RBIs, 31 R
• Tommy Noll: .373 AVG, 2 2B, 1 3B, 27 RBIs, 17 R
• Matt Detering: .365 AVG, 10 2B, 3 3B, 23 RBIs, 15 R
• John Kaprosy: 25.1 IP, 3-1, 1.10 ERA, 30 K
• Justin Wilson: 20.2 IP, 3-3, 1.01 ERA, 20 K
• Squire Chapman: 33 IP, 3-2, 2.33 ERA, 42 K

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Jeff: This team works extremely hard, they spent their summer playing in several different travel organizations and in winter conditioning and prepping for the upcoming season. They are a very veteran lead ball club with 11 seniors. Early on we had injuries and did not have a full roster till the beginning of May. When we got a couple of those players back things seemed to turn around. This group is very competitive and very and very relaxed. 

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Jeff: It is a great accomplishment for us to get back to regionals. The last time we were there was in 2014, and our guys are excited to play and see where it goes.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Jeff: With 10 seniors there is a lot of leadership. It feels like we have coaches all over the diamond. They all share in the responsibility of leading.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Jeff: It’s a tough field. Aurora, Walsh, and Jackson ... does it get any better?

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Jeff: Right now we are getting contributions from everyone. It has been a total team effort.

Aurora

Record: 20-5
Final Ranking: No. 21
Preseason Ranking: NR
Highest Ranking: No. 20 - Final
Postseason History:

Team Stats:

• .329 AVG, 183 Runs
• 1.98 ERA, 136 K

Top Players:

• Evan Fromwiller: .388 AVG, 6 2B, 2 3B, 20 RBIs, 25 R, 14 SB
• Bubba Arslanian: .371 AVG, 10 2B, 2 HR, 22 RBIs, 20 R
• Joe Capretta: .358 AVG, 3 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBIs, 13 R
• Jonathan Blue: .345 AVG, 7 2B, 1 3B, 8 RBIs, 29 R, 13 SB
• Drew McVay: .333 AVG, 10 RBIs, 12 R, 9 SB
• Brent Henderson: .313 AVG, 5 2B, 20 RBIs, 11 R
• Jacob Blue: .301 AVG, 5 2B, 12 RBIs, 25 R
• Ben Stawicki: .297 AVG, 5 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 5 R
• Zachary Elsawy: 34.1 IP, 3-1, 1.83 ERA, 30 K
• Chase Coady: 25.1 IP, 3-1, 1.93 ERA, 21 K
• Jaret Rose: 25 IP, 4-1, 1.96 ERA, 17 K
• Michael Sapp: 24 IP, 4-1, 2.92 ERA, 23 K

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Michael: The 2016 season was a developmental year after we graduated double digit amount of seniors from the 2015 Final Four team, a team which had 7 players go on to play college baseball.  We knew that we would have some bumps in the road playing a lot of sophomores and juniors last season, but give them credit as they worked tremendously hard and kept getting better in all facets of the game during the off-season.  With that hard work, they are now reaping the benefits and continuing to build Aurora into a great baseball program.

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Michael: Winning the Hudson District is not easy task; as a matter of fact, there could be an argument that is may be the toughest district in the state.  We beat three quality teams in Shaker Heights, Hudson, and Solon to get to this point.  All 3 of those teams are well coached and the players play disciplined baseball so I am very proud of our guys to get to this point and hopefully go further.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Michael: Seniors have done an outstanding job of carrying the torch of the Aurora Baseball program from the seniors on the 2015 team.  They are great leaders and truly care about the well-being our program and their teammates.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Michael: Looking forward to the opportunity of our players playing Mentor.  When you at this point in time, you know the quality of the opponent will be outstanding and that’s not different in our regional field with Mentor, Jackson, and Walsh Jesuit.

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Michael: Aurora was down both to Hudson and Solon in districts but found a way to battle some adversity and earn come from behind victories.

PBR: Anything else you would like to add?
Michael: Very proud moment for Aurora being such a small Division 1 school that our baseball program has really done a great job yet again of getting this far and hopefully further.  Our community, school, and all associated with this town are excited for Regionals.   

Walsh Jesuit

Record: 19-8
Final Ranking: No. 29
Preseason Ranking: No. 29
Highest Ranking: No. 29 - Preseason
Postseason History: 13th regional trip in 21 seasons

Top Players:

• Brendan Regan: .427/2/25, 8.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 SV, 10 K
• Jace Burke: 41 IP, 6-0, 0.68 ERA, 55 K. .373/1/12

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Chris: Overall our 2017 team has grown throughout the season a great deal, we have a young squad being led well by a small group of graduating seniors. We hovered at around the .500 mark for the first several weeks, and we excited to be playing some very good baseball by our young team at this point in the season.

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Chris: We are thrilled and honored to have advanced to this competitive regional with this young group.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Chris: Our team captains, Jace Burke, Alex Weitman, and Brendan Regan have done an exceptional job leading this young team.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Chris: We have a remarkable field of teams in our highly competitive regional. We have a rich history of very competitive games with Massillon Jackson and have great respect for their program.

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Chris: 2 complete games thus far from senior University of Evansville recruit Jace Burke, and a remarkable tournament thus far from Michigan State University recruit Brendan Regan. A tremendous outing in the district championship game by sophomore RHP Yassir Kahook.

PBR: Anything else you would like to add, feel free to send it.. Remember, this is for your players, your coaching staff and your community.
Chris: We have had solid contributions in our tournament run from Sophomore Wright State University recruit Nate Stahl, Junior Nolan Quinn, Junior Easton Kindall, Freshman Stanley Kaczmar, Sophomore Nick Vaccaro, Junior Matt Lobeck, Senior Alex Weitman, Junior Drew Wilkinson, Junior Cameron Burford, Senior John Carrol recruit Kasey Anzelc, and Junior Kevin Jarvis.

Massillon Jackson

Record: 26-2
Final Ranking: No. 1
Preseason Ranking: No. 2
Highest Ranking: No. 1 - Week 2-Final
Postseason History:

Team Stats:

• .343 AVG, 187 Runs
• 1.64 ERA, 216 K

Top Players:

• Dillon Dingler: .419 AVG, 12 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 27 RBIs, 31 R, 10 SB
• Cade Mottice: .398 AVG, 9 2B, 13 RBIs, 21 R
• Trey Wright: .369 AVG, 3 2B, 2 3B, 16 RBIs, 14 R
• Ben Warren: .352 AVG, 2 2B, 11 RBIs, 12 R. 31.2 IP, 4-2, 1 SV, 2.65 ERA, 27 K
• Jake Mottice: .351 AVG, 1 2B, 1 3B, 16 RBIs, 27 R, 12 SB
• Kyle Nicolas: .347 AVG, 4 2B, 17 RBIs, 11 R. 42 IP, 6-0, 1 SV, 0.50 ERA, 62 K
• Davis Graham: .345 AVG, 3 2B, 1 HR, 16 RBIs, 15 R
• Nick Harrison: .342 AVG, 1 2B, 12 RBIs, 7 R
• Yanni Skeriotis: 39 IP, 7-0, 1.79 ERA, 45 K
• Cooper Pastorius: 27 IP, 4-0, 1.56 ERA, 31 K
• Jack White: 23 IP, 2 SV, 1.52 ERA, 28 K

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Bill: We are very proud to represent the Federal League and Stark Co at the regional level. This senior class has one 4 straight District titles. After graduating 12 (10 playing college baseball) in 2016 this senior class really committed themselves this offseason and preseason to getting back to Munson. This is our program's 10th regional apprearance and 4th in a row.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Bill: Kyle Nicolas and Dillon Dingler both were part of the 2017 State Basketball Championship Team and have carried that passion and competitiveness over to our baseball team. Our senior class along with with key contributions from our underclassman have put us in this position.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Bill: This Regional has four teams all capable of getting to the Final Four. All four have had much success in the past in recent tournament play.

Division I, Region 2 - Dublin 

Region Overview:
Team Previews:

Hilliard Darby

Record: 26-3
Final Ranking: No. 9
Preseason Ranking: No. 18
Highest Ranking: No. 7 - Week 2
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• Cory Brooks
• Tyler Chumita
• Kristian Amaro
• Bryce Stultz

Olentangy Orange

Record: 20-8
Final Ranking: No. 34
Preseason Ranking: No. 11
Highest Ranking: No. 11 - Preseason
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• Jason Schutte, 1B, .391 AVG,  .476 OBP, 27 R
• Matt Poole, SS, .398 AVG,  .485 OBP, 24 R
• Tyler Brown, P, .377 AVG, 5 2B, 5 HR, 22 RBIs
• Zack Stiteler, C,.417 AVG, 7 2B, 1 HR, 31 RBIs
• Logan Moss, 2B, .250 AVG
• Garrett O’Reilly, 3B, .329 AVG
• Robbie Dayhuff, LF, 2019
• Ben Miller, CF, 2018
• Cole Callaghan, RF, 2018
• Tyler Ross, DH, 2019

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Phillip: Most of team back from (24-4) team last year. 8 losses include 5 1-run losses and 2 2-run losses

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Phillip: Jason Schutte (West Liberty) and Garrett O’Reilly (Bluffton) have led a very talented group that includes the following - Tyler Brown (Vanderbilt), Matt Poole (Ohio Wesleyan), Logan Moss (Ashland) and Zack Stiteler (undecided).

Big Walnut

Record: 23-5
Final Ranking: No. 10
Preseason Ranking: No. 14
Highest Ranking: No. 6 - Week 1
Postseason History:

• Austin Becker
• Henry von Hollen
• Jake Foster
• Connor Gerren

Gahanna Lincoln

Record: 16-7
Final Ranking: No. 27
Preseason Ranking: No. 4
Highest Ranking: No. 3 - Week 2
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• Cael Baker
• Jackson Wolf
• Mitchel Megias
• Major Belli
• Carl Turner
• Mason Coleman
• Josh Oddi

Division I, Region 3 - Bowling Green/Parma 

Region Overview:
Team Previews:

Strongsville

Record: 22-8
Final Ranking: No. 30
Preseason Ranking: No. 19
Highest Ranking: No. 19 - Preseason
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• C, Parker Shannon
• LF, Jack Frank
• CF/RHP, Alex Gray
• 1B, Noah Trizzino
• 2B, Trevor Denning
• LHP, Jaret Beechy
• RHP, Matt Brosky
• SS/RHP, Mitch Midea

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Douglas: We started the season 0-4 but since the losses were to some of the better teams around the state (Moeller, Mason, Hoban, and Solon) and because of the work our guys put in the weight room, our confidence wasn't shaken. Following the four game losing streak, we ran off ten straight wins, including two wins against Medina and Brunswick and single wins against Walsh Jesuit, Mentor, and St. Ignatius. The streak ended with an incredibly close one-run loss to Massillon Jackson. If our kids questioned whether they could play with anyone in the state before that game, there was full belief after it.  We're 22-4 since that 0-4 start.

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Douglas: Of course advancing to regionals is a tremendous accomplishment, especially when you have to go through a program as good as St. Ignatius. They are incredibly talented on the mound and as consistently mentally tough as anyone in Northeast Ohio. I'd like to think we matched that toughness after we fell down 1-0 in the 6th and were able to respond to the adversity the game gave us.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Douglas: All of our seniors contribute some type of leadership. This team has so much trust in one another that there's almost a sense of collective leadership between those seven guys. Parker Shannon doesn't say a lot but leads by example. When he does say something, everyone takes notice. Noah Trizzino is even quieter but his consistent work ethic and focus is noted by his teammates. Alex Gray was quiet until this year but he's since emerged as one of our vocal leaders. He's willing to speak up and have the uncomfortable conversation a leader sometimes has to have with one of his teammates. Jaret Beechy really emerged as one willing to speak his mind in the offseason and has emerged as the go-to voice on the pitching staff. Louis Rahm is willing to remind teammates to work if they're just hanging around waiting to be told what to do. Zach Kasian is one to both keep guys loose and show his teammates how hard they have to work before, during, and after practice. Kyler Damm plays incredibly hard and when he makes a big play, especially on the bases, his energy is infectious. These seven guys have set the example of what is expected of a Strongsville Baseball player.  We would be significantly weaker without any one of our seven seniors.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Douglas:

• We know the least about this year's Perrysburg team but I was quite impressed when I saw their district final victory over Anthony Wayne. They played very good defense, made Anthony Wayne make plays against their short game, and threw a ton of strikes. I don't know Coach Hall personally but we are very well aware of how good his program is year-in and year-out. Thursday is going to be a battle.
• We played Avon about a week and a half ago and beat them 3-2 but they didn't have all of their regular starters in the lineup. The Reynolds kid put a couple very good swings on the ball and his approach at the plate is impressive. D'Andrea didn't play that day until a late pinch hitting appearance and we know how good he is. On the mound they held us in check also. They're a deep, veteran team that will be very tough.
• We know the most about Medina. We played them 3 times this year, going 2-1. Their top pitcher Fryer has a good fastball/breaking ball mix. They have another 3 or 4 guys behind him that can throw the ball well also. I think their most impressive facet is how they swing the bats. Their lineup is deep and Trace Peterson has had as good of a year as anyone in Northeast Ohio at the plate. Cade Pipoly also has consistently had good at-bats against us.

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Douglas: We were tied 0-0 in the district final after 5 innings against St. Ignatius. They scored 1 in the top of the 6th before we came back to score 6 in the bottom of the 6th in a 6-1 win. Each guy in the lineup contributed in some way that inning, as we sent 12 guys to the plate. Also, we have only given up 1 run so far in tournament play. All three tournament games have been complete games for our starting pitchers thus far (Beechy 5 inning CG vs. Rhodes, Beechy 5 inning CG vs. Normandy, and Brosky 7 inning CG vs. St. Ignatius).  

Perrysburg

Record: 16-11
Final Ranking: No. 42
Preseason Ranking: No. 27
Highest Ranking: No. 38 - Final
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• Tyson Kleinfelter
• Griffin Parrill
• Alec Thacker
• Matt Murphy
• Grant Delas
• Nikolas Mancy
• Jake Krueger
• Mike Murphy
• Connor Meredith
• Carson Vrzal
• Payton Faris

Avon

Record: 23-5
Final Ranking: No. 11
Preseason Ranking: No. 49
Highest Ranking: No. 8 - Week 4
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• Logan Doenges
• Ethan St. Clair
• Nathan Brooks
• Jake Egger
• Neil Strodtbeck
• Matt Kelly
• Tommy Kocar
• Taylor Reynolds
• Stephen Ciarniello
• William Laurendeau
• Tanner Egger

Medina

Record: 15-15
Final Ranking: NR
Preseason Ranking: No. 33
Highest Ranking: No. 33 - Preseason
Postseason History:

Team Stats:

• .311 AVG, 169 Runs
• 3.21 ERA

Top Players:

• Trace Peterson: .493 AVG, 7 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 40 RBIs, 24 R
• Cade Pipoly: .407 AVG, 11 2B, 2 3B, 18 RBIs, 25 R. 22 IP, 3-1, 0.95 ERA, 17 K
• Hunter Havekost: .406 AVG, 5 2B, 1 3B, 15 RBIs, 38 R
• Aaron Masek, .325 AVG, 5 2B, 1 3B, 23 RBIs, 12 R
• Chris Fryer: .318 AVG, 5 2B, 2 3B, 17 RBI, 17 R. 37 IP, 5-1, 2.06 ERA, 36 K
• Garrett McLead: 26.1 IP, 2.12 ERA, 1-1, 21 K

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Nick: This team has put in many hours of work in the weight room, cage and on the field. Things finally came together mid-to-late season and they won 9 of their last 10 games. The only loss being to Solon in the conference tournament championship game. We took a 4-2 lead in the 6th inning, but gave up 6 runs. This game was the Tuesday prior to our Thursday and Friday sectional games and we were holding back pitchers.

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Nick: Our goal mid-season was to make it to regionals. The pieces and parts were there, we just had to get them working together as a machine/team. I am not surprised that these guys made the run that they have made. We play a really tough schedule. 5 of the 8 teams in our conference made it to the district finals with three advancing to regionals.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Nick: All of our seniors on this team are leaders. They emerge at different capacities at different times.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Nick: The regional field is tough. We have played Strongsville three times and only won the last one. We lost a one run game earlier in the season to Avon. Perrysburg has a great coach in Dave Hall and they are always good.

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Nick: After Beating the 10 seed team in our sectional opener, we had to beat the 2, 3, then 1 seed. That doesn't happen often, beating all three top seeds.

Division I, Region 4 - Cincinnati 

Region Overview:
Team Previews:

Centerville

Record: 16-9
Final Ranking: No. 43
Preseason Ranking: No. 40
Highest Ranking: No. 36 - Week 2
Postseason History: 5th trip to regionals  

Team Stats:

• .274 AVG, 122 Runs
• 2.67 ERA, 152 K

Top Players:

• Joey Hecht: 59.1 IP, 6-1, 1.65 ERA, 69 K
• Alex Firsdon: .407 AVG, 7 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBIs, 19 R, 10 SB. 45.1 IP, 4-0, 1.54 ERA, 39 K
• Joey Holiga: .302 AVG, 4 2B, 2 3B, 18 RBIs, 21 R
• Riley Poulton: .284 AVG, 2 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 13 RBIs, 21 R
• Morgan Colopy: .279 AVG, 5 2B, 14 RBIs, 12 R
• Jared Lieberman: .304 AVG, 2 2B, 5 RBIs, 8 R
• Nick Hoffman: 4 IP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5 K (Coming off injury)

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Jason: We lost a great group of seniors and really have done a nice job of finding a way to overcome some of those losses. After dealing with some early injuries we have been able to be patient and allow some young guys to step into pivotal roles which they have. We have been very fortunate to have 5 sophomores (Nick Hoffmann, Morgan Colopy, Jared Lieberman, Shea Hendrixson, and Max Wynn) really do a nice job of contributing as well lately after developing during the year. Adding their contribution to our seniors and juniors has been a big part of our run to Regionals. 

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Jason: Whenever you can be one of the last standing in your region you are excited. You start the tourney with around 190 some odd teams and now to be one of the last 16 it is a privilege but also something our guys have worked for. The goal is to not just win the league but to hopefully get to Huntington Park. We weren’t able to win our league this year but feel have learned from those errors and got some things rolling lately.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Jason:

• Joey Hecht: An absolute dealer and gamer for us. Baseball junkie that gives us a chance everytime out.
• Joey Holiga: Has been more a vocal leader and led us during off-season with his work ethic.
• Alex Firsdon: Has been a dude on the mound and at the plate. His contributions have really been enjoyable to watch because of the time and effort he put into his individual growth.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Jason: Loaded. You look at Lakota West, Fairfield, and St Xavier and realize very quickly how tough this region is. Two teams from the GMC, which arguably is the best conference in the state top to bottom, and a traditional power from the GCL South, another conference you could argue is the toughest in the state, in X. Really exciting to have the opportunity to step in with such great programs and find a way to compete.

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Jason: The key hits have come from Sr Jake Whisman who delivered a grand slam in the Sectional Finals vs Northmont and a RBI to beat Milford in the Districts. Outstanding performances have come many but one that umps out is our pitching the District Game by Alex “Doc” Firsdon and Nick Hoffmann. To limit that team to 3 hits and 1 run in 9 innings was very impressive.

PBR: Anything else you would like to add?
Jason: We look forward to the opportunity and hopefully can represent ourselves in the manner which we are capable. More than anything we hope to compete at our highest level and find a way to hopefully get a chance at another dogpile. 

Lakota West

Record: 23-5
Final Ranking: No. 12
Preseason Ranking: No. 32
Highest Ranking: No. 9 - Week 4
Postseason History:

Top Players:

• Brennen Martin
• Jacob Kates
• Bryce Johnson
• Dominic Schivone
• AJ Petersen
• Michael Medley
• Max Kiker
• Eric Hooper
• Noah Mauerer

Fairfield

Record: 23-6
Final Ranking: No. 17
Preseason Ranking: No. 41
Highest Ranking: No. 13 - Week 4
Postseason History: 

Top Players:

• Brock Mathis
• Andrew Sams
• Kaleb Ford
• Evan Trentman
• Noah Bauman
• Nolan McWhorter
• Kurt Lange
• Matt Scowden
• Tyler Morgan
• Ryan Barker
• Shane Hatfield

St. Xavier

Record: 21-4
Final Ranking: No. 2
Preseason Ranking: No. 5
Highest Ranking: No. 2 - Week 6
Postseason History: Won the outright Greater Catholic League Championship this year, which was St. X's first outright GCL title since 1999. The district championship this year was the first one since 2008.

Team Stats:

• .303 AVG, 168 Runs
• 2.01 ERA, 127 K

Top Players:

• Peter Fisher: .377 AVG, 4 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 11 RBIs, 29 R, 10 SB
• Jon Brus: .369 AVG, 3 2B, 3 3B, 14 RBIs, 12 R
• Trevor Kuncl: .349 AVG, 11 2B, 1 HR, 20 RBIs, 21 R
• Alex Markley: .345 AVG, 7 2B, 1 HR, 17 RBIs, 8 R
• Sam Klare: .328 AVG, 2 2B, 1 3B, 16 RBIs, 14 R. 21 IP, 2-1, 3.67 ERA, 14 K
• Andy Mills: .321 AVG, 2 2B, 5 RBIs, 7 R
• Michael Cleary: .301 AVG, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 14 RBIs, 23 R
• Nathan Kappers: 53.1 IP, 7-1, 0.92 ERA, 33 K
• Sam Kendall: 39.2 IP, 6-0, 3.53 ERA, 41 K
• Drew Klare: 23.1 IP, 3-0, 0.60 ERA, 12 K

Coaches Thoughts:

PBR: Talk about your team's development from last summer, winter or the beginning of the season to now in late May.
Bob: We currently have 13 seniors on the current roster (11 players and 2 managers) and knew about halfway during their freshmen year that they were a special bunch. They, along with the underclassmen we have on our roster, have totally bought into the program that we have tried to establish and it is starting to pay dividends with our first Greater Catholic League championship since 1999 and our first regional appearance since 2008. They have been fully committed to becoming better players every day and their hard work has earned them an opportunity to do something very special.

PBR: Thoughts on your program advancing to regionals.
Bob: The excitement at St. Xavier High School and throughout the St. Xavier community has been building since we clinched our GCL championship. There has been a lot of joy surrounding this team’s success this year and everyone associated with the school is excited at the prospect of even bigger things to come.

PBR: Talk about the leaders on your team and what they have meant.
Bob: The leadership provided by our seniors has been a large part of our success this year. Any one of them at any time provides some type of leadership to keep this team moving in a positive direction, whether it is on the field or off. They are as close to a “band of brothers” as you could want and it has made a significant difference in our team chemistry. In fact, we did not name specific team captains because we felt doing so could possibly fracture a very special relationship that they have with one another and with the rest of the team. They all love and respect one another.

PBR: Thoughts on your regional field.
Bob: We are really excited to play our regional game at the University of Cincinnati. It is as close to a professional stadium as any player could want to play in. It lends itself well to a big game atmosphere.

PBR: Is there anything of interest worth mentioning about your tournament run thus far (no-hitters, key hits, outstanding performances, comebacks etc)?
Bob: The following games were turning points for us in 2017:

1. 6-4 victory over last year’s state-runner up LaSalle on March 29. Junior Nathan Kappers threw 5 innings of 2-hit ball in relief for our first victory in the GCL this year.
2. Kappers defeats Moeller 1-0 for a key GCL victory in a game that was suspended  a week by rain. Kappers took a no-hitter into the 6th inning before surrendering a hit, and was able to throw a shutout baseball on both ends of the game.
3. 6-0 victory over Lebanon in last week’s district championship game. Sam Kendall threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball and worked out of a bases-loaded, 1 out jam in the top of the 6th inning in the process.