Ohio Baseball Season Begins

March 25, 2023
Bruce Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer

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To view all things Spring High School Baseball Related, click here.

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

Elite 25 | Division I | Division II | Division III | Division IV | Regional Teams

To view the full list of 2023 Team Previews that we have already completed, please click here. Or you can view each of the divisions in an excel format by clicking below.

Division I | Division II | Division III | Division IV

Ohio Baseball Season Begins

Play Ball!

It is that time of year in the Buckeye State. Basketball is now in the rear-view mirror and the high school baseball season is ready to begin.

So what lies ahead in the upcoming campaign?

There is plenty to mention, but not without a quick reflection about 2022.

LAST YEAR

It was a year of surprises, to a degree, with only one team ranked in the Top 10 bringing home a state championship.

Waynedale, the seventh-rated squad in Division III, defeated 22nd-ranked Milan Edison for the first state title in school history.

The rest of the tournament featured “upsets” - if you can call it that in the game of baseball - with 24th-rated Northview topping No. 10 Grove City for the D-I crown, 21st-ranked Chardon edging No. 9 Hoban for the Division II title and No. 17 Russia pulling away from second-rated Lincolnview for the D-IV championship.

The regional semifinals proved to be the downfall for top-rated teams. D-IV No. 1 Lucasville Valley lost to Newark Catholic 6-1, D-III’s top-ranked squad CHCA fell to Springfield Northeastern 6-4 and Defiance, the number one team in D-II, was nipped by Tiffin Columbian 1-0.

Moeller was the lone top-ranked squad to win in the regional semifinals, beating Fairfield 5-0. But the Crusaders lost to Mason 4-1 a game later to come up one win short of a state berth.

THIS YEAR

What does this year look like?

It starts with Moeller, which begins the season as not only the top team in Ohio, but the 14th-ranked team in the nation in PBR’s first season of ranking teams nationally. Moeller has five starters back and six key arms from a 29-3 squad looking to bring home a ninth state title in school history, the most recent coming in 2015.

Tim Held’s stacked squad at Moeller features 12 Division I college commits (and counting), six of which pitch.

Defiance is again at the head of the Division II rankings and deservedly so, with Tom Held’s squad returning four of its top five hitters from a year ago. Additionally, the Bulldogs have a strong trio of hurlers at the top of the staff, one an Akron commit and another headed to Findlay.

A pair of defending champions are at the top of the preseason ratings in Division III and IV in Waynedale and Russia. Both squads appear loaded in 2023.

Waynedale head coach Lucas Daugherty returns five starters, including the shortstop and center fielder to go along with its top three pitchers, the ace an Ohio State signee. Russia head coach Kevin Phlipot has seven returning regulars back in its quest to repeat, featuring a number one pitcher who has a career record of 18-1.

As for the other defending champs, Northview begins the year rated 30th in Division I while Chardon has moved up from Division II to D-I this season and comes in rated 26th.

In addition to Chardon, one other significant change finds Hoban going from D-II to D-I. The Knights begin the year rated fifth in the state and 17th in the Midwest. To view all of the changes within divisions, please click here.

TEAM UP NORTH

A year ago, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s went 44-0 in not only winning the Michigan Division 1 state title, but in the eyes of many experts, the mythical national title for high school baseball.

While St. Mary’s lost a number of standouts from that squad, there is no doubt that the 2023 team will again be strong as evidenced by a No. 13 ranking in the PBR national preseason poll.

So what does that have to do down in Ohio?

Well, four teams from the Buckeye State will get an opportunity to see the defending national champions up close. The first to play the team from up north, which begins the season as the number one team in the Midwest (featuring schools from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin) is Walsh Jesuit on April 12 in a night game at Thurman Munson Stadium. Walsh Jesuit is third in the Ohio D-I preseason rankings and comes in at number 10 in the Midwest.

A day later, Olentangy Orange, the No. 7 D-I team in Ohio, will host St. Mary’s at 5 p.m. Then on Saturday, April 15, Orchard Lake will participate in a PBR Classic at Grove City, with the host school facing St. Mary’s at 12:15 p.m. followed by a game between the Eaglets and Milford at 2:30. Grove City is ranked sixth in Division I and Milford 15th.

A year ago, a team from Ohio gave Orchard Lake, arguably, its toughest game of the season. Saint Ignatius led the Eaglets 1-0 before St. Mary’s tied the game in the fifth. Orchard Lake then won the game 4-1 with a two-out three-run homer in the top of the seventh. The Eaglets also beat Orange, Upper Arlington and Grove City during the 2022 season.

PBR CLASSICS

There are numerous PBR Classics in addition to the April 15 event at Grove City.

The initial Spring Classic of the 2023 campaign begins on Sunday at Ross Park with Springboro matching up with Toledo St. John’s, Roger Bacon taking on Monroe and Chaminade-Julienne facing CHCA in the nightcap.

The High School Invitational, featuring eight teams with a minimum of three games played each, returns for its second season with games being played at Mercy Field in Toledo on March 31-April 1. First-round games include Ottawa Hills-Massillon Jackson, Oregon Clay-Lakewood St. Edward’s, Toledo Central Catholic-University School and Marlington-Walsh Jesuit.

Defiance and Chillicothe will host a pair of Classics this season, with Defiance the home team on April 15 and 29 and Chillicothe providing the field on April 15 and 22. The third game at Defiance on April 29 features a matchup of last year’s Division I champ, Northview, against 2022 Division II champion Chardon.

Toronto, Wapakoneta, Grove City, Gilmour Academy, Moeller, Perrysburg, Olentangy Orange and Vandalia-Butler will also host PBR Classic games on Saturdays in 2023. Additionally, the biggest day of action will be on April 29th when two fields are in use at Thurman Munson with 16 teams currently penciled in to play.

Also on tap this season is the annual Jesuit Classic with Toledo St. John’s, Saint Ignatius, Walsh Jesuit and this year’s host school, St. Xavier.

STATE TOURNAMENT

In less than three months we will know who the 2023 state champions in Ohio will be. This year’s state tournament, which is back at Akron’s Canal Park for the 95th annual event in Ohio, will take place on June 8-10.

The Division I semifinals will open the tourney at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thursday with the Division IV games at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. D-II semis are set to be the first two games on Friday with D-III to follow. Finals are for Saturday with Division I at 10 a.m., D-IV at 1 p.m., Division II at 4 p.m. and D-III at 7 p.m.