By Travis Cox
Central Ohio Scout

Worthngton, Ohio- Going into the Division I Central District Semi-Final, the Marysville Monarchs were not expecting to face Westerville North.  But little did they know that they were in for a tough battle.

The Warriors, who upset St. Charles last week, quickly took a 1-0 advantage when centerfielder, Kevin Hacket hit a double and later scored when pitcher Michael Cooper hit a sharp single to right field. 

In the bottom half of the frame, the Monarchs quickly respond when unsigned senior, Kyle Hites led off the inning with a triple.  Corey Gould (Mount Vernon recruit) would single to send home Hites and knot the game 1-1.

The game continued to stay tied until the top of the fourth inning when North put together a two-out rally.  Josh Kovacs hit a double, Cooper followed with a walk and both Ryan Curtis and Andrew Simmerman both had RBI singles to garner a 3-1 lead.

The big inning forced Monarch starting pitcher Jake Allegree out of the game for lefty Greg Laurenson.

Once again, Marysville answered back in the bottom half of the fourth as Aron Mowery (pictured) singled and scored from a fielder’s choice to cut the deficit to one run.

Mowery came on to work the fifth inning on the mound.  The young righty quickly overpowered the Westerville offense by striking out two batters in his first inning of work.

In the bottom of the fifth, catcher Nick Ciotola led off the inning with a single.  Hites reached on a throwing error.  Ciotola later scored after a passed ball and Gould followed with a sacrifice fly to center to send in Hites for the go ahead run.

Mowery kept the Warriors offense at bay as he slammed the door and pitched two more scoreless innings to give his team the 4-3 win.

Westerville North ends the season with a 15-15 record.  Marysville will continue through bracket play with a 20-7 record as they will play Watkins Memorial on Thursday at Ohio Dominican University.

To view scouting notes from games across Ohio, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week. 

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