by St. Edward took an early lead on a leadoff homerun from Danny Tome but had to battle back late, taking down the Avon Eagles 6-3 in their Division I Regional Semifinal. On the mound for Ed’s, Max McClellan turned in an excellent performance, going four ⅔ innings and striking out eight. Brody Papay pitched well for Avon, going six ⅓ innings with nine strikeouts.
On the third pitch of the contest, Danny Tome blasted a hanging curveball over the right field fence to give St. Edward an early 1-0 lead. Drew Mahle would hit a one-out single in the second inning, but that was it for Ed’s baserunners until the fifth.
Jason Gillespie drew a walk in the bottom of the fourth to become the second base runner of the day for Avon, but McClellan picked up his eighth strikeout of the game to leave him stranded.
Finally, the Avon offense came alive in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Griffiths hit a lead-off single, and Ian Cain followed it up with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt and a walk to Garret Espey, the bases were loaded for Robby Sykora. Sykora hit a sacrifice fly that scored Hunter Jackson (pinch runner) to tie the game at 1-1. Ian Cain scored on a passed ball, and an RBI double from Colten Fitch made the score 3-1 after five.
Wasting no time, the St. Edward bats responded in the top of the sixth. Tome drew a one-out walk, and Brayden Page hit a single to get things started. Grant Lashutka hit an RBI single to score Tome, and a sacrifice fly from Karlo Hepp scored another to even the score. A passed ball scooted past the catcher, and Lashutke scored, giving Ed’s a 4-3 lead in the sixth.
The momentum carried over into the seventh for St. Edward, as Langston Lucas hit a one-out double to right field and, after walks to Brady Barker and Vince Waters, the bases were loaded. A sacrifice fly from Tome scored Lucas, and a walk to Lashutka scored Barker, extending the lead to 6-3.
Showing the same resilience they’ve shown all season, Avon would not go down without a fight. A pitch drilled Owen Melzer to draw a leadoff walk, which Robby Sykora followed up with a single. Gillespie drew his second walk of the game to load the bases with two outs. Ed’s pitcher, Henry Slaby, got a huge strikeout to slam the door shut on a comeback and give the Eagles a 6-3 victory.
Up Next
St. Edward will be back in action Friday evening as they take on Perrysburg. With a regional title and trip to the state semifinals on the line, the first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Gilmour Academy.
Top Performers
St. Edward Eagles
Max McClellan: 4.2 IP 2 H 4 BB 8 K 2 ER
Danny Tome: 1-2 HR BB 2 R 1 RBI
Grant Lashutka: 1-3 BB R 2 RBI
Avon Eagles
Brody Papay: 6.1 IP 4 H 2 BB 9 K 4 ER
Ian Cain: 1-2 BB R
Robby Sykora: 1-2 RBI
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
R |
H |
E |
|
| St. Edward |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
| Avon |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
