JJHuddle/PBR Ohio Division I Power Rankings: No. 11 - No. 15
March 29, 2014
By Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer/Northwest Scout
No. 11 Lakota West High School
Lakota West and head coach Bill Dreisbach finished the 2013 season with a 16-13 record, bowing out of the tournament in the district finals after a loss to Clayton Northmont.
Since Dreisbach has been at the helm of the Firebirds, Lakota West has 11 sectional championships, six district championships, two regional championships, one state championshio (2007) while never having a losing season in the 16 years. Coach Dreisbach has a career record of 299-171 entering the 2014 season.
The Firebirds return four starters and three pitchers. A projected lineup looks like:
- 1 Austin Allinger, jr, 2B, ranked number 50 in Ohio and 342 overall in the 2015 class.
- 2 Aaron Bruch, sr, LF
- 3 Blaine Griffiths, sr, CF, Xavier University commit, ranked number 19 in Ohio and 137 overall in the 2014 class, 1st team All-GMC
- 4 Dallas Hall, jr, RF, Miami, OH commit, ranked number 56 in the 2015 class.
- 5 Andrew Huser, jr, 3B/DH, ranked number 106 in the 105 class, pictured above.
- 6 Grant Schuermann, sr, 1B
- 7 Austin Boggs, sr, UTIL
- 8 Brandon Giltrow, jr, C
- 9 Justin Moyer, so., 3B/DH
- 1 Grant Schuermann, sr, LHP, Furman commit, ranked number 38 in Ohio and 275 overall in the 2014 class, 2nd team All-GMC, pictured right.
- 2 Austin Allinger, jr, RHP
- 3 Aaron Bruch, sr, RHP
- 4 Andrew Huser, jr, RHP
- 5 Alex Wagner, jr, RHP
A couple of underclassmen that coach Dreisbach will look to contribute include Moyer, Andrew Weigal (so, 1B/OF) and Alex Smith (so, 2B/C)
Head coach Jeff Hite and the North Canton Hoover Vikings finished 2013 with a 22-8, 9-3 Federal League record. The Vikings claims the Federal League championship, but bowed out of the OHSAA tournament in the regional semifinals to Aurora 7-5.
The Vikings return four starters and three pitchers from last years team. Hoover will be led by seniors Will Haueter (6-2, 195-pound catcher, Norther Kentucky commit, ranked 122 in 2014 class) and Alex Binnie (5-11, 185-pound, INF, ranked 105 in 2014 class, pictured left).
Hoover also has a strong 2015 class led by:
- Sam Russo, ranked number 74 in 2015 class.
- Tony Iero, ranked number 96 in 2015 class, pictured right.
- Jake Szendry, ranked number 130 in 2015 class.
- Drew Vargo, ranked 181 in 2015 class.
- Zach Manos.
No. 13 Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School
Head coach John Mutch and the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees had an impressive 2013 campaign, finishing 26-3. But the Bees fell in the district semifinals to Normandy 2-0, and in 2014 look to make a deeper run.
The Bees did lose some talent from the 2013 team in the likes of Joe Domzalski, Joe Houk, Paul Karthan, Nate Korczynski, Vladimir Kovacevic and Anthony Miragliotta.
The Bees look to be strong on the mound with four returning starters on the mound from last years team. coach Mutch also will have some versatility in the bullpen.The rotation looks like this:
- 1 Perry Dellavalle, INF, 12, 6'0-175, RHP, Seton Hall commit, ranked 55th in 2014 class, pictured above. front line starter, 3 competitive pitches, velo is good enough to miss barrells 84-87mph, but location & mound composure are his strengths. 2nd Team All-SWC.
- 2 Josh Armbruster, INF, 12, 6'3-200, RHP, got off to a slow start at the beginning of the season last year due to illness, look to have a very strong year on the mound & at the plate, already clocked upper-80s this spring. 2nd Team All-SWC.
- 3 Danny Cody, INF, 11, 6'2-175, RHP. Two-way prospect that is one to watch.
- 4 Jay Rose, INF, 12, 6'2-215, LHP
- 5 Taylor Cave, INF/OF, 11, 6'2-200, RHP.
At the plate, the Bees will need to replace the entire infield, but the defense should have some athleticism in the field, with most experience coming back in the outfield and behind the plate. The projected lineup looks like this:
- Colton Carney, OF, 12, 6'3-200, R/R, unsigned senior, ranked number 164 in 2014 class, pictured right. very capable offensive weapon, middle of the order type hitter, very quick hands at the plate with athletic body has ability to drive the baseball. 2nd Team All-State .
- Josh Armbruster, 1B, 12, 6-3-200, R/R
- Ricky Farina, OF, 12, 6'0-170, R/R. Athletic OF with good speed, HM All-SWC ,
- Adam Kalinsky, 2B, 12, 5'10-150, R/R
- Perry Dellavalle, INF, 12, 6'0-175, R/R
- Danny Cody, INF, 11, 6'2-175, R/R. Two-way prospect to keep an eye on.
- Taylor Cave, OF/DH, 11, 6'2-190, R/R. Big strong athletic frame, making transition to OF this offseason, has potential on the mound, but his bat is the strength of his game right now
- Kyle Stringer, OF, 11, 5'8-150, L/R. Really good speed, good contact hitter that brings a lot of versatility to the plate with his ability to bunt for hits and steal bases.
- Jacob Burnett, C, 11, 5'10-165, R'R
No. 14 Aurora High School
Aurora and head coach Tim Deering had an outstanding 2013 campaign, finishing 28-5, 9-1 Chagrin Valley Conference. The Greenmen ran up against Moeller in Columbus, falling to the Crusaders as seen here.
The Greenmen broke 36 team and individual records, won their first district title since 1986 and reached state for the first time in school history. In 2014, the Greenmen will need to replace some key pieces like Tyler Thomas, Jake Czerwinski, Adam Berger, and Frank Sivillo.
Aurora will do that with their five returning starters and two returning pitchers. Coach Deering's projected lineup will look as follows:
- 1 Kirk Janoch CF Sr. 6'1 175 R-R
- 2 Matt Carpenter SS Jr. 5'11 145 S-R, pictured right.
- 3 Andy Weber 2nd Jr. 6'0 175 L-R, ranked number 108 in 2015 class.
- 4 Nick Ely 3rd Jr. 6'1 185 R-R, pictured above to left.
- 5 Devin Bradley LF Jr. 5'11 185 R-R
- 6 Griff Petersen DH Sr. 6'2 205 R-R
- 7 Jack Updyke RF Sr. 6'0 180 L-R
- 8 Carter Semancik 1st 6'3 180 R-R
- 9 Michael Durkin C 5'11 160 R-R
On the mound, the arms will look like:
- Kirk Janoch Sr. 6'1 175 RHP
- Adam Long So. 6'1 250 RHP
- AJ Kimes So. 6'0 165 LHP
- Josh Andexler 6'2 175 RHP
- Carter Semancik 6'3 180 RHP
No. 15 Anthony Wayne High School
Head coach Mark Nell and the Anthony Wayne Generals look to build on their 20-5 season and get back to district/regionals and possibly Columbus. Last season the Generals fell in the sectional final to Findlay 6-3.
Coach Nell and his 259-108 record at Anthony Wayne, look to to five returning starters and two returning pitchers to lead.
Some of Anthony Wayne's top players include:
- Josh Schwerer SR OF/P, University of Findlay commit, ranked 81st in 2014 class, pictured above to right.
- Austin Kottenbrock SR 2nd
- D.J. Komisarek SR Catcher
- Alex Murphy SR SS/P
- Aaron Stark JR INF/P
- Chad Windom SR utility
A few underclassmen for the Generals include:
- Micheal Conklin P/1B
- Mason Zimmerman P
- Peyton Brown OF
- Evan Brown, 2017, OF, pictured right.
- Alexander Vogel, 2017, RHP/1B.
