AKRON – Trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning of the Division II state championship game, and with its bats being held in check by left-hander Luca Borichevsky, the New Albany baseball team received likely its biggest break of the season.
With two runners on base, Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit right fielder Ben Babinec mishandled Nick Nardell’s routine fly ball, allowing Connor Bahr to score the tying run. The miscue led to four unearned runs in the inning as New Albany rallied for a 4-1 win June 13 at 7 17 Credit Union Park.
It is the third state title for the Eagles (26-7), who won in Division I in 2021 and Division III in 2004. New Albany lost in a state semifinal last year.
After Babinec’s error, Caden Kistner followed with an RBI single and Remy Trautner delivered a two-run single.
“We knew we were going to face adversity at some point in this game,” Kistner said. “They scored a run in the second inning. We’re a great hitting team. We have been all year. The first two at-bats, I put barrels on them. It just didn’t go the way I wanted it to. The fastball was breaking away from me and I just had to take it to right field, and that’s what I did.”
Aidan Wyche went the distance to earn the win, allowing one run on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
Will Blueter’s RBI double gave the Warriors (16-13) a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
Borichevsky was the tough-luck loser, allowing no earned runs on seven hits.
“He had nice movement, but after the first inning we said we’re going to get to him,” New Albany coach Mike Sandman said. “We started catching some barrels and we were hitting balls right at them. We’ve said all along pressure versus pipes. … If we can get just a little bit of pressure on him something is going to go our way because we’re getting good swings. We felt like something was going to finally happen for us.”
Bahr finished with two hits and scored a run for New Albany.
Sean McHugh had two hits for Walsh Jesuit.
Sandman also pointed to a solid defensive effort as a key to the win. New Albany did not commit an error.
“Clean baseball wins championships, and that’s what these guys bought into,” Sandman said. “They executed it at a high level.”
With a renovation project underway at New Albany High School – it will include a new baseball field – the Eagles played all of their games on the road this season and will again next spring.
Having a season without a home game never affected the Eagles.
“It brought us closer together,” Kistner said. “We’re always on a bus together. We’re always car pooling. We just found a way. Anywhere we go, we just play our game and let it ride.”
(This story has been updated with new information, quotes and a photo gallery.)
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New Albany beats Walsh Jesuit to win OHSAA baseball state title
Reporting by Frank DiRenna, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Frank DiRenna, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
