By Chris Webb

Division IV

Teams:  Hamler Regional Champion: Delphos St. John?s (17-4), Lancaster Regional Champion: Newark Catholic (22-6), Lorain Regional Champion: New Middletown Springfield (17-6), Springfield Regional Champion: Minster (21-8)

Pairings: New Middletown Springfield vs. Delphos St. John?s Thursday 4 p.m., Minster vs. Newark Catholic Thursday 7 p.m., championship Saturday 1 p.m.

Top Players: Newark Catholic Jr. RHP Jimmy Lough, Newark Catholic Sr. RHP Michael Lewis, Minster Soph. RHP Adam Niemeyer

Quick hits: The MAC has two teams in the final four, Minster and Delphos St. John?s? While DSJ is making their first State Tournament appearance, Newark Catholic is making their 12^th, which ties the school for third most in OHSAA history. Minster is making its second appearance while Springfield is in the final four for the third time.

Preview: For the eighth time in ten seasons, Newark Catholic is in the State Tournament. The six-time state champions last won a title in 2006 and have gone 0-for-three in final fours since. One of those loses came against Springfield in 2009 as the team from New Middleton defeated the Green Wave 5-3. As the teams enter Huntington Park, Newark Catholic is the only ranked team in the field.

Delphos St. John?s is known throughout Ohio for its football and basketball prowess, now they?re looking to add baseball to the list. After opening the Elida District with a 19-3 win over Waynesfield-Goshen, DSJ defeated DIV?s fifth ranked team, giving Leipsic its first and only lost of the season with a 2-0 win. After defeating Kalida 8-3, Delphos St. John?s eased through the Hamler Region in taking down Hopewell-Loudon 3-1 and Toledo Ottawa Hills 7-0.

Newark Catholic did what was expected of the program in advancing to Huntington Park. The number two team in DIV breezed through the Dublin District winnings its first three games by a combined 33-0 count. Mid-State League peer Fisher Catholic was walked over in the District?s title game 14-2. New Philadelphia Tuscarawas gave the Green Wave its toughest test to date before falling 4-3 in a Lancaster Regional semifinal game, Newark Catholic resumed its dominant play in advancing to Columbus by way of a 7-0 win over Racine Southern.

New Middletown Springfield had its share of close calls and cakewalks in its path to the final four. A 9-1 win over Columbiana Crestview was followed by a 6-2 win over Lowellville. Springfield caught the eye of Division IV in downing Columbiana, the state?s number 10 ranked team, 15-3 for a district title. Fairport Harding fought hard but fell 4-3, while Rittman couldn?t stop the charge as Springfield defeated them 8-5 for the Lorain Regional championship.

Minster has played five games in their 2011 tournament tenure finding the toughest the most recent and most rewarding giving them the right to play in Huntington Park. In the Coldwater District, Minster knocked off New Knoxville 4-1, then the district?s one-seed Convoy Crestview 13-4. A 5-0 blanking of Rockford Parkway would give the school a long awaited district title. A 12-5 victory over New Paris National Trails set the stage for the right to play in the school?s first-ever State Tournament which was achieved by defeating Sidney Lehman Catholic  8-7.