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2022 OHSAA Tournament: Division IV State Final - No. 17 Russia vs No. 2 Lincolnview

June 11, 2022
Dylan Hefflinger and Bruce Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Editor in Chief/NW Scout and Senior Writer

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2022 OHSAA Tournament: Division IV State Final - No. 17 Russia vs No. 2 Lincolnview

AKRON - After beating perennial state powers Fort Loramie in the regional finals and Newark Catholic in the state semifinals, Russia was not about to be intimidated facing the top pitcher in the state in Division IV. Once Lincolnview ace Landon Price reached the pitch limit, the Raiders erupted en route to a 10-4 win in the state championship game on Saturday morning.

“We came here and saw the kid from Liberty Union (Jacob Miller) throw 95 and HE got beat,” Russia head coach Kevin Phlipot stressed. “I told them we’re not facing that, we’re facing 88. That right there was confidence. Our guys' mindset was ``I think we can do this.”

It showed when Russia scored two runs in the bottom of the second to go in front 2-1 and then added another run an inning later for a 3-2 advantage after the Lancers tied the game for a 3-2 advantage. 

“Answering them was huge,” Phlipot said. “We were concerned, we didn’t know how dominating he would be. We haven’t seen this quality of a fastball. We’ve seen good pitchers but not this type of velocity.

“I always stress you’ve got to make adjustments and if there ever was a time to make adjustments it was today.”

Leading 3-2, Russia put two on with two out in the bottom of the sixth when Price reached the 125-pitch limit on a hit-by-pitch. Once the Ohio State commit left the game, the next seven Russia batters reached base, highlighted by a two-run single from Hayden Quinter and a two-run triple by Braylon Cordonnier and the Raiders scored seven in the inning.

Both finished with three hits in the game as did Aiden Shappie for the the 17th-ranked team in the state, which totaled 13 hits in the game, eight off of Price who had not allowed more than five in any game this year.

“See the first pitch, it it’s fastball, turn on it quick and then if it’s a curveball lay off,” Cordinnier said of his strategy at the plate. “It was mostly looking to pound fastballs.”

The five-hole hitter for the Raiders understood what his team was facing in the Lincolnview left-hander, who was 24-0 in his high school career prior to Saturday.

“We knew we were the underdogs and they had better guys,” Cordonnier admitted. “It helped us be more prepared for the game.”

Russia pitcher Xavier Phlipot was the beneficiary and picked up the victory with a complete game effort against the second-ranked team in the state in D-IV.

“We came down here the other day and all these guys are throwing 85, 89, 90,” explained the junior right-hander, who finishes the season at 9-0. “I know I’m definitely not that speed. I have to throw a lot of strikes and keep it down in the zone and let my defense go to work and that’s what they did. They played a heck of a game.”

It marked the second state title in school history for Russia, which won the 1971 crown. For Lincolnview, it marked the second straight season losing in the title game.

HOT TAKES

PLAYER OF THE GAME: In winning a pitching matchup with Price, Phlipot gets the nod after surrendering three earned runs with five strikeouts. Lincolnview left eight runners on base in the first five innings before Phlipot retired six straight, including striking out the side in the sixth, before the Lancers pushed two runs across in the seventh.. 

D-IV TOURNEY MVP: Cordonnier did it at the plate and in the field in the finals after recording one hit and scoring a run in the 4-3 state semifinal win over Newark Catholic. The left-handed hitting freshman was 3-for-4 in the finals, scoring two and driving in two capped off by the two-run triple to deep right-center field. Additionally, Cordonnier made a beautiful diving catch of a liner off the bat of the Lincolnview leadoff hitter in the second inning and added another nice play on a tough grounder in the seventh.

BIG PRODUCTION: Quinter also was stellar at the plate with three hits, featuring a two-run single in the sixth with the Raiders clinging to a 4-2 lead.

LOST CHANCES: Lincolnview scored four runs but had numerous chances to plate more. The Lancers put the leadoff batter on base in five of the seven innings but only one of those scored, that in the third when Lincolnview plated a run without the benefit of a hit.

WHAT’S NEXT: Lincolnview only loses three starters but they leave huge holes to fill in Price, Cole Binkley and Landon Fox. Dane Ebel, who threw a one-hitter in the state semifinals, will be the leader of the Lancers next season. … Phlipot, Zane Quinter and Cordonnier return to make Russia one of the teams to beat in 2023 with three other starters also back including leadoff hitter Brayden Monnin.

LiNESCORE

Lincolnview        011  000  2  -    4    8  1

Russia                 021  007  x  -   10  13  3

Records: Russia 25-6, Lincolnview 24-7.

Winning Pitcher: Xavier Phlipot (7 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk).  

Losing Pitcher: Landon Price (5.2 innings, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 8 hits, 10 strikeouts, 2 walks). Others: Keagan Farris (0 innings, 5 runs, 4 hits, 0 strikeouts, 1 walk), Jack Dunlap (0.1 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 strikeouts, 0 walks)..

Leading Hitters: (Lincolnview) - Landon Price 2 singles, run; Cole Binkley single, triple, 2 runs, RBI; Dane Ebel single, RBI; Austin Bockrath single, double, run; Brandon Renner single, RBI).  (Russia) - Brayden Monnin run; Xavier Phlipot RBI; Felix Francis run; Hayden Quinter 3 singles, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Grant Saunders single, run; Braylon Cordonnier 2 singles, triple, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Aiden Shappie 3 singles, 2 RBIs, run; Zane Shappie 2 singles, run, RBI; Jude Counts single, run, RBI.

2022 Spring High School Season Content

To view the Heat Sheet, which provides the top velocity we have seen this spring, please click here.

To view out Spring Scout Blog with videos and reports from the spring, please click here.

To view the Team Rankings, click below:

To view the Teams of the Week, click below:

To view the Preseason All-State Teams, click below:

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