The Twinsburg baseball team’s unexpected postseason run came to an end Sunday afternoon at the Ohio High School Athletic Association state championship. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it didn’t end the way they wanted.
Mason broke things open late in the Division I state championship game at Canal Park, winning 8-1. Two days earlier, the Tigers had come off a late 4-1 win in the state semifinals over Olentangy-Berlin. On Sunday, it was Mason who came up with a clutch bat late.
Here’s how the game evolves with our live updates.
The Mason baseball team won the OHSAA state championship
Twinsburg put runners on in the seventh, but they didn’t have a miracle leadoff and Mason won the title game 8-1. The Tigers had second and third down when the game ended.
Twinsburg’s last chance comes against Mason in the DI state final
The Comets fell 1-2-3 to the top of seventh place. Mason leads 8-1 and his pitchers are throwing no-hitters as we head into the bottom of the inning.
Twinsburg puts one on the scoreboard against Mason in the state final
Jack Phillips, Josh Stalnaker and Chris Kimmel each walked one single and Phillips came home on a groundout by Bryce Bannon. The Tigers leave them loaded. It’s now 8-1 Mason heading into the seventh inning.
Mason starts in the sixth against Twinsburg
The Comets took an 8-0 lead into the top six. Mark Rutherford highlighted the inning with a single. He is now 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Twinsburg threads the opening base hit against Mason in the DI final
AJ Teneja opened things up with a base hit to right, but was stranded at second. The Tigers have two hits off Michael Bellew through five and trail 4-0.
Mason opens things up in the Division I state final versus Twinsburg Baseball
The Comets picked up five straight singles from Brad Hart, Alex Collinge, Jake Henley, Drew Stephens (2 RBIs), and Mark Rutherford (RBI) and took a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
Twinsburg leaves a runner in the bottom of the fourth against Mason
The Tigers got a leadoff lead off Jack Phillips but couldn’t move the runner and trailed Mason 1-0. Of note, Michael Bellew threw the first 13 overs in an attempt to get rid of Phillips. He came close maybe once.
AJ Teneja saves a run for Twinsburg in the state final against Mason
A brilliant deep play by AJ Teneja saved the run as we headed into the bottom of the fourth with the Comets leading 1-0.
Mason-Twinsburg is headed to a fourth-place finish with the Comets taking a 1-0 lead in the state final
Michael Bellew has struck out four of the last six and served seven in a row. Mason holds a one-run lead as he comes to bat.
Mason leads the way in the third state final against Twinsburg
Lukas Tenter has sent six of the last seven through three. Jaden Dye traced a deep fly to center by Indiana commit Jake Hanley to highlight a strong top of the third for Twinsburg. 1-0 Mason.
Mason remains on top of the DI state baseball final against Twinsburg
George Mason reliever Michael Bellew settled to push the thing into the third inning by inducing a strikeout in the first and ending the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Comets lead 1-0.
Mason stepped up for Twinsburg in the second inning of the DI baseball state final
Anthony Sulik opened the second inning with a single to right and came home with a single straight off the bat of Casey Donner to put the Comets up 1-0 heading into the bottom of the second inning.
The Twinsburg-Mason Baseball State Final is scoreless after one out
Josh Stalnaker sent a backup single up the chute for a single, but was stranded at first when Chris Kimmel flied deep to left. It’s 0-0 heading into the second.
Twinsburg comes out of first place unscathed in the state final
The Ohio State commit singled up the zone to open the game, but Mason left a runner on second thanks to two pitches and a pop-up by AJ Teneja. The Tigers are coming to bat 0-0.
The final game of the Twinsburg-Mason Division I baseball tournament has been announced
As was the case in the postseason, Twinsburg will square off with Lucas Tainter (6-1). Mason will run with George Mason commit Michael Bellew (5-2).
Bello is coming off a blowout shutout against state champion Cincinnati Moeller in the regional final.
| 1 | LF | 16 b. Lemieux | R |
| 2 | RF | 3 c. Phillips | R |
| 3 | Dirham | 10 c. Stalnaker | R |
| 4 | 1 b | 27 K. Kimmel | R |
| 5 | C | 7L Conway | R |
| 6 | SS | 1 a. Taneja | R |
| 7 | 2b | 32 c. cox | R |
| 8 | 3b | 35 K. here | R |
| 9 | See | 4 c. Dye | R |
| 1 | 2b | 3a. Cooling | R |
| 2 | 1 b | 34 c. Hanley | R |
| 3 | 3b | 4 d. Stevens | R |
| 4 | C | 21 AD. Rutherford | R |
| 5 | SS | 2a. Sulik | R |
| 6 | LF | 27 h. Crocciata | R |
| 7 | Dirham | 24 c. I studied | R |
| 8 | RF | 9 c. Doner | R |
| 9 | See | 1 b. Hart | R |
| 10 | s | 33 AD. Bello | R |
As if the Tigers’ run to Division I wasn’t enough, the story has taken another twist. All along, Twinsburg said she gets help from the late coach Jeff Lucca, who died in a tragic car accident in December.
His influence perhaps reached Division Two level when West Branch beat Hamilton Badden 3-2 He scored three runs in the final inning. Badin did not allow the entire tournament to take place and took a massive hit on Sunday the 6th.
West Branch happens to be the high school for Lucca, who graduated from there in 1983.
A three-run sixth inning proved decisive in Twinsburg’s 4-1 win over Olentangy Berlin on Friday. Berlin had just tied the game 1-1 in the top of the sixth when the Tigers responded immediately in their half of the inning. They loaded the bases and then scored three runs when Jason Cox walked to force a run, Kyler Hawn singled on a run and Jaden Dye hit a sacrifice fly.
Hoon also had an RBI single in the second inning to give Twinsburg an early 1-0 lead.
Twinsburg’s Josh Stalnaker (8-1) was the winning pitcher in his final start of the season. The right-hander struck out seven batters in a complete game, giving up four hits and two walks.
More about Twinsburg baseball: ‘We are the moment’: Twinsburg High School is ready for the OHSAA baseball state final Sunday
Throughout their run to the state championship, thoughts of the late coach Jeff Lucca were never far from the minds of the Twinsburg Tigers. Luca died in a car accident in December. A month later, former Twinsburg freshman coach Jim Lipinski returned to the program as its head coach.
The Tigers dedicated their season to Luca and went on to win 23 games and make an unexpected run in the tournament, something his wife, Jane Luca, described as warm and heartbreaking.
Twinsburg has reached the baseball state semifinals for the third time in school history, the others coming in 1990 and 2006. Both times the Tigers lost in the semifinals — 3-1 to Indian Valley in 1990 in Class AA and 7-2 to Olentangy in 2006 in Division I
- Chris Kimmel entered the state tournament with a team-best .386 batting average with nine doubles, three home runs, 29 RBIs and 24 runs scored. His single in the top of the seventh helped the Tigers beat Hoban 7-5 in the district semifinals. He plays first base.
- Josh Stalnaker entered the state tournament hitting .360 with eight doubles, two triples, one home run, 32 runs and 20 RBIs. As a pitcher, he is 8-1 after Friday’s win, with 77 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched. The Ashland commit went 2-for-3 with two walks in the regional final win over Hoover after scoring 12 goals in a 5-0 win over Worcester in the regional semifinal. Stalnaker hit a triple in the sixth inning to seal a 3-0 win over Dover.
- AJ Taneja provided a pair of RBI singles against Hoover.
- Lucas Tinter enters today’s state finals starting 6-1 with a 1.54 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 50 innings. He was the winning pitcher in a 6-3 win over Hoover in the regional finals and a 3-0 win over Dover in the district finals. He allowed two runs on five hits in six innings against Hoover after throwing three strikeouts against Dover.
All state tournament games this year can be watched on NFHS Network He can be heard on the OHSAA Radio Network.
- Twinsburg 4, Olentangy Berlin 1
- Mason 1, Perrysburg 0
- Division I State Championship: Twinsburg vs. No. 7 Mason, Sunday, June 9, 1 p.m
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