By Roger Gordon

Correspondent

Field’s stellar 22-6 season ended in disappointment in a 7-5 loss to Canfield in a Division IV district title game May 29 at Lorain.

The Falcons rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the winning run at first base before falling short.

“Our kids battled, they didn’t quit,” head coach Joe Peterson said.

Field’s downfall against the Cardinals was a punchless offense. The Falcons were issued eight bases on balls, but managed only three hits.

“Something that was there all year but just wasn’t there that day was we just didn’t swing the bat all that well. It just wasn’t there,” said Peterson. “Their pitcher did a good job keeping the ball off-balance. He did a great job. He’s that good.”

On the mound, Landon Homan started and went 4.1 innings in giving up three earned runs and seven hits while striking out two. Drexal McAmis pitched the rest of the way.

Two nights earlier, on May 27 in a district semifinal, Field routed Oberlin Firelands 10-0 at home in a game that was called after 4 ½ innings due to the 10-run rule. The home team scored in all four innings.

“We’d been swinging the bat pretty well all year long,” Peterson said, “and, at the same time, had been really patient at the plate, not swinging at things that shouldn’t be swung at early in the count. We got to Firelands early and then continued.”

Leading the charge were Caden Kolesar, who had two singles, an RBI and two runs; Grady Eader, who singled twice and drove in three runs; and Kole Siedler, who had a hit and

three RBI.

Homan started and went four innings, yielding only two hits while fanning six and walking one. McAmis pitched the fifth inning.

“Landon was spot on,” said the coach. “He pounded the strike zone and had good command of his slider. He was very efficient. That’s what he’s been his entire career.”

Peterson was more than pleased with his team’s season.

“This team was excellent,” he said. “To go 13-1 in the Metro Athletic Conference and share the conference championship with Norton … these guys battled all year long. I’m happy for them to have back-to-back MAC championships. Twenty-two and six was a great year. District runner-up losing to an extremely good Canfield team … you look at our six losses — all six came to a district champion, a district finalist or a district runner-up.

“We’re losing some really good players, including our top-four arms, to graduation, so there are a lot of holes to fill (next season). But hopefully our underclassmen are going to want to step up, fill those voids and try to continue what we’ve built. This was our fifth year in a row with 20 or more wins, so hopefully we can find a way to fill those shoes. We have some good young kids coming in.”

WATERLOO

Down 8-2 entering the sixth inning, Waterloo made a furious rally with two runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings, but fell short in the end. The Vikings, whose four errors led to the big deficit, lost 9-6 to Ashtabula St. John on May 30 in a Division VII district title game at Cuyahoga Community College in Parma.

Waterloo ended up with an 8-14 record.

“We had the tying run at the plate to end the game,” head coach Jeremy Randles said. “That was the best team we played all year.”

Senior first baseman Matt Ralston led the way at the plate with three singles, an RBI and two runs.

“Matt was kind of up and down all year for us, but in the postseason he was locked in at the plate,” said Randles. “He didn’t always get a hit but put the bat on the ball. He was huge for us against St. John. He really sparked our comeback.”

On the mound, sophomore Mason Biltz started and went 4.1 innings in yielding eight runs and nine hits while striking out one and walking two.

“St. John was probably the best hitting team we faced all year. They put the bat on the ball top to bottom,” Randles said. “But I thought Mason commanded the strike zone pretty well.

After the fourth inning and a couple times through the batting order, it was definitely time to take him out and get a new look in there.”

Senior Vincent Mori pitched the last 1.2 innings, giving up a run and no hits while walking two.

Two nights earlier, on May 28, Waterloo won 10-3 at Willoughby Andrews Osborne Academy in a district semifinal.

“We hit the ball top to bottom, which we’d struggled to do the entire regular season,” said the coach. “We got on them early, and really every inning we were getting runs and base-runners.”

Pacing the Vikings’ 10-hit attack were freshman right fielder Trevor Flarida and Mori, who played second base in this game. Flarida doubled, singled twice and knocked in three runs, while Mori doubled, singled and scored once.

“Trevor came up big for us, and our veteran guys rallied around him. He led the charge. He was great,” Randles said. “Even though he battled with injuries, Vincent really swung a great bat for us all year. He was one of our better hitters. We actually moved him up in the order for the postseason, and he really produced for us.”

Pitching-wise, senior Trevor Simons started and went five innings, giving up a run and just two hits while fanning five and walking seven.

“The weather conditions weren’t great. It was a steady drizzle the entire game,” said Randles. “Pitchers kept talking about how hard it was to grip the ball, but Trevor worked out of some jams.”

Aric May, Simons’ classmate, went the last two innings, yielding two runs while striking out two and walking two.

Waterloo played a tough non-conference schedule against some bigger schools.

“Our goal there was to get battle tested a little bit to prepare us for the postseason, which I thought worked,” Randles said. “Next year will probably be a rebuilding year; we’re losing nine seniors to graduation. We’ll be strong in pitching. It’s can we make plays and put bat on the ball top to bottom.”

AURORA

Things looked good for Aurora heading to the bottom of the fourth inning of its Division III district semifinal May 27 at Gates Mills Gilmour Academy.

The Greenmen were leading 3-1.

“We had a very good mindset before the game,” head coach Trent Dalton said. “I think we were very prepared. We were ready for the moment. We had a lot of confidence when we had that two-run lead.”

Two Aurora errors in that last half of the fourth resulted in two runs — all with two outs — for the Lancers that tied the score. The Greenmens’ defense continued to falter, totaling six errors on the night, dooming their chances in an 8-3 defeat.

“Some other things didn’t go our way, but the guys fought to the end,” said Dalton. “Unfortunately, we came up short against a very good Gilmour team.”

Aurora finished the season with a 7-20 record.

Sophomore pitcher Johnny Slisz, a southpaw, started and went four innings in giving up seven runs (but only one earned run) and six hits while striking out four batters and walking four.

Seniors Kyle Lancaster, Will Bodine and Maddox Booth pitched the rest of the game.

“Johnny had a phenomenal performance, especially coming from a sophomore in a big situation,” Dalton said. “We put him in a tough spot. He was prepared mentally and physically and just did what we expected him to do, what we knew he could do, in that moment. His fastball was working, his off-speed pitches were working. It was just a great performance.”

Offensively, junior shortstop Max Anzells had four singles and scored a run, while senior second baseman Aydan Carlson rapped a pair of singles and had an RBI and a run.

“Max was fantastic at the plate for us. He just did what Max does. He used the whole field. He stepped up to the plate in a big moment,” said the coach. “Aydan was another key guy for us in the lineup.”

According to Dalton, his team’s record is deceiving.

“We went through some adversity early and had a good amount of injuries,” he said. “But we had lots of guys who stepped up in certain situations or stepped into a role that maybe they’d never been in before, and they stepped up to the challenge. They fought and they kept working and came together when we needed them to come together. It was a fun year. The guys got better every single day, and that’s all that we could’ve asked from them – to work hard and keep going.

“We’ll lose 16 seniors — some of them key guys — to graduation, but we have a good young core coming up and some returning juniors. I’m really looking forward to the future.”