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2023 OHSAA Tournament: Division II State Final - No. 19 Kenston vs Ontario

June 10, 2023
Bruce Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer

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2023 OHSAA Tournament: Division II State Final - No. 19 Kenston vs Ontario

AKRON - Kenston is a state baseball champion for the first time ever.

The Bombers rode the pitching of Nikko Georgiou to a 4-3 win over Ontario in the Division II state title game on Saturday at Canal Park.

“I had people behind me willing to make plays,” the senior said after his six-hit performance for the 19th-rated D-II team in Ohio. “Let them put the ball in play and let my teammates make plays behind me.”

But it didn’t come without a bit of tension.

Trailing 4-1, Ontario pushed across two runs in the top of the sixth on a Jayden Leach single, a Gage Weaver hit-by-pitch, a fielder’s choice that did not get an out filling up the bases and a two-run single to center by Carter Walters.

A fly out to short center field kept runners at first and second, but a double steal after a strikeout put the potential tying and lead runs in scoring position. But Georgiou proceeded to record his second consecutive strikeout to end the inning.

“I struggled in that sixth inning a little bit,” Georgiou said. “They put a little pressure on us, but we took the pressure off.”

It did not surprise head coach Joe Hritz.

“The kid’s a bulldog, the kid’s a bulldog man,” Hritz said of the hard-throwing right-hander who is headed to John Carroll to play quarterback in football. “He’ll do it any day for us. We have full faith, full trust in him.”

Losing pitcher Peyton Dzugan led off the Ontario seventh with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. But a line drive to second baseman Tommy Pecoraro was turned into a double play as the Kenston bench rushed the field to celebrate.

“Me and Parker have been battling all year,” Georgiou said in reference to Parker Munday, the winning pitcher in Friday’s 4-2 semifinal win over Chaminade Julienne. “He said before the regional championship game, you get me a start and I’ll get you a start. I’m just happy to be here.”

A Gage Weaver sac fly plated Colten Ramion with the first run of the game in the top of the first for Ontario but Kenston went in front for good with three in the second.

Georgiou had an RBI single and Bridger Bischof a run-scoring double before a suicide suicide squeeze bunt by Grant Beclay plated Bischof for a 3-1 advantage.

“We’ve been working on that for awhile,” Hritz related. “We’re trying to put up insurance runs, make sure we get guys across. We executed it perfectly.”

The Bombers added to the lead with one in the fifth on a LA Mighton triple to right and an RBI groundout by Jimmy Cerha. It proved to be the winning run for Kenston, a Division I state semifinalist a year ago which started out this season 4-7, with three of the losses to teams from Illinois.

“These seniors are phenomenal,” Hritz said about the six that have been part of the only two state appearances in school history. “They’ve been great for two years for us.”

The loss ended a remarkable run to state for Ontario, losers of its first four games during what turned out to be a 17-15 season.

HOT TAKES

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Georgiou gave up two earned runs on six hits and one walk while fanning seven in the complete game for Kenston. Of the 89 pitches thrown, 59 were strikes. Additionally, there he had a single, scored a run and drove one in.

D-II TOURNEY MVP: Munday, who threw a two-hitter in the state semis, and state final winner Georgiou were both options for the honor, but Bischof, the eight-hole hitter, is the pick. It seemed whenever Kenston was having a good inning, Bischof was part of it. In the semifinals, the junior right fielder had a hit and scored the tying run in the seventh inning of the comeback victory over C-J. In the finals, Bischof brought in the lead run in the game with a double to left and then scored on the squeeze.

BEST PLAY: While Ontario came up on the short end of the score, the left fielder for the Warriors had the play of the game. With one on and two out in the bottom of the sixth, Caden Boebel made an amazing catch racing toward the left-field corner preventing an extra-base hit by Carter Flynn to keep the Warriors within one run.

WHAT’S NEXT?: The top three pitchers along with catcher Jake Chapman are back for Ontario and second-year head coach Mike Ellis. … Joe Hirtz is two for two in getting Kenston to state. Can the mentor of the Bombers make it three in a row in 2024? The starting catcher, second baseman, third baseman and both corner outfielders return, but can the pitching pick up where this year’s standouts Munday and Georgiou left off?

LINESCORE

Ontario       100  002  0  -  3  6  0
Kenston     030  010  x   -  4  6  0

Records: Kenston 21-11, Ontario 17-15.

Winning Pitcher: Nikko Georgiou (7 innings, 3 runs, 2 earned runs, 6 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk).

Losing Pitcher: Peyton Dzugan (6 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 2 strikeouts, 3 walks).

Leading Hitters: (Ontario) - Colten Ramion single, run; Jayden Leach single, run; Gave Weaver single, run, RBI; Carter Walters single, 2 RBIs; Peyton Dzugan 2 singles. (Kenston) - LA Mighton triple, run; Jimmy Cerha RBI; Tommy Pecoraro 2 singles, run; Nikko Georgiou single, run, RBI; Bridger Bischof double, run, RBI; Grant Beclay single, RBI.

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