High school baseball: Chardon up to D-I among 11 area schools moving

Sep. 7—It is new territory for Division II state champion Chardon in the 2023 season.

The Hilltoppers are one of 11 News-Herald coverage area teams that will shift divisions and one of two that will move to Division I.

Chardon coach Brian Long sees seven of his bats from a season ago return as well as eight of their fielders from their banner run a year ago. However, he and the players don't see themselves as defending their state title, rather looking to add another one to their resume.

Now the long one, #NHBaseball — For DI, what a lot of us thought would happen happened, as Chardon moves to there. But they aren't the only ones moving up. University will also join them in those ranks

— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 6, 2022

"While we understand the significant challenge the move to D-I creates, we embrace the challenge and that will be our message to the kids," Long said. "They now have a very unique opportunity to compete for a second state championship, but at the larger school level. Chardon baseball has always been a Division I program for a long time. Every year our schedule shows that our team can play with the top teams in the state no matter what division teams are in."

Also making the jump from Division II to Division I is another team that made it to the regional round a season ago, the University Preppers. Just like Chardon, University also features a lot of players returning from a season ago, as 13 players saw time at the varsity level.

Even after a historic season a year ago, University coach Rob McNerney is excited about the challenge of the season. With experienced players like Evan Shapiro and Aaron Moss back this season, he knows that their work ethic will rub off on any new faces.

"Last season was certainly one for the record books as we broke the school record for wins and won the district for the first time in 30 years," McNerney said. "There was a lot to celebrate. But as fun as it was and as proud as the players should be, we really need to have a 'so what' mentality. As a coach I've got to find ways to get more out of the returners — pull something from the new guys — and overall keep everyone hungry, wanting more."

Three teams moved down from Division I to Division II, highlighted by 2022 state semifinalist Kenston. Coach Joe Hritz knows they still have a tall task in front of them.

The Bombers come off of a Cinderella run a year ago where they were they went from a 17 seed to a regional championship and one play away from a state final berth.

With several key pieces back from last year's run like Drew McKenna, Parker Munday and Bridger Bischof among others, that will pay dividends to Hritz and the Bombers in the upcoming campaign.

-DII sees a lot of movement. Harvey, Madison and Kenston are all down from DI. But the likes of Gilmour, Hawken and VASJ are up from DIII to DII and coupled with the teams that remained at the DII level, it makes 11 teams in the coverage area.

— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 6, 2022

"I expect to see teams of similar caliber this year in D-II as last year in D-I," Hritz said. "When you look at the divisions in Ohio you are always going to face tough pitching and teams that hit throughout their order, especially as you go deeper into the playoffs. Anyone who makes it far into the playoffs is there for a reason and not by accident. I also believe that any top-notch D-II program can beat any top-notch D-I program on any day of the week."

Also dropping down to Division II are Madison and Harvey.

Three teams also moved up to D-II, those being Hawken, Gilmour and VASJ. Both the Hawks and Lancers are coming off of regional round appearances, while the Vikings went 13-5 a year ago.

Hawken's Aaron Brandt is excited about the chances that their teams that they'll face while his team finds their footing as a group.

"The biggest challenge at the D-II level, especially in Northeast Ohio, is that some of the top programs in the state, in any division, compete in this D-II district," Brandt said. "Amongst our regular starters from last season, we have four returning so we should have leaders that will help us transition into this new level of tournament play. We have played many D-II schools within our conference over the last few years. So that experience should help as well.."

A few of those challenges however dropped to the D-III level, most notably Chagrin Falls. The Tigers won their district championship at the D-II level the past two seasons.

Coach Michael Sweeney is familiar with the D-III challenge thanks to the Tigers' conference schedule in the CVC.

With a bevy of new faces as well as a lot of different teams they'll see, Sweeney knows this will be a test for his team but with the standard that the recent teams have set for Chagrin Falls baseball.

-DIII does see three new teams, two of which reached the district round last season and one that sees a lot of talent return. Chagrin Falls, Perry and Beachwood all move to the division to round out the mass movement

— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 6, 2022

"We definitely will have a lot of new faces this year," Sweeney said. "This is why we will need to focus on our own team. Our team goals will always remain the same. Regardless of what division we play in, baseball is a sport where it's tough to win, no matter who we are playing against. I think our players will be excited for a new opportunity, but we also have a lot of work to do before we even think about competing with the best teams in D-III."

Along with Chagin Falls dropping down, both Perry and Beachwood dropped down as well.