Hoover, Louisville baseball teams forge new paths after district championship runs

LOUISVILLE — Thinking of last season sparks great memories for the North Canton Hoover and Louisville baseball teams.

But now it's this season, and the Vikings and Leopards have work to do to create some new great memories.

The two defending district champions crossed paths Friday, with Hoover earning a 6-4 win at Andy Aljancic Field in a game that took a not-so-tidy two hours and 55 minutes to play.

This week's high school roundups: Hoover boys lacrosse team posts win over Hoban

Vikings junior Mason Ashby went 3-for-4, including the key hit of the game in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Zach Braucher retired all seven batters he faced to earn the save as Hoover evened its record at 4-4 and stacked another good performance on top of Wednesday's 8-0 win at Federal League-leading Jackson.

"Every year you rebuild or reload, however you want to say it," Hoover head coach Bryan Ashby said. "It's high school baseball. I don't get to recruit. I don't sign players to contracts. We have what we have. The kids are great and the coaches work them hard. They are about the game and love to play."

Drew Stangelo, Mason Ashby and Carson Dyrlund are the only everyday starters back from last season's district title team, which got hot late in the season and made a run as a No. 11 seed behind the pitching of D1 recruits Nick Vardavas (Miami) and Tanner Ware (Oakland).

"We've got a lot of growing up to do," Bryan Ashby said. "We always say, 'Let's play our game, play hard and build in the first part of the season.'

"If you've looked at our club the last couple of years," Ashby added, making a rising motion with his hand, "we've kind of gone like this."

Speaking of trending up, Louisville (6-3) entered Friday on a five-game winning streak, with each win being of the quality variety (Green, Hoban, Chardon and St. Vincent-St. Mary twice).

The Leopards graduated some key players from last year's team, which advanced all the way to a Division II regional final led by Anthony Warner (Mount Union) and JT Popick (Akron).

Up in Division I this year, head coach Brian Warner said he believes Louisville is capable of more.

"I feel like we have the same identity," Warner said. "I feel like the program is getting to the point where we can just reload. We have a lot of guys back with great experience from last year.

"The seniors last year set the bar really high and these kids have stepped up. I feel a lot of the same from last year. When you have that energy and the enjoyment to be here, it makes it a lot of fun."

Mason Ashby and senior Mason Bille (West Liberty) are the Hoover pitchers leading the way this year, while Louisville senior Conner Morley already is 4-0 and junior Cole Miller (1-1) earned the win vs. Hoban.

Both Hoover and Louisville want to rely on their pitching and defense while finding ways to manufacture enough offense.

"Everybody knows baseball is about the timely hit," Bryan Ashby said.

It was the younger Ashby who had the timeliest of hits Friday.

After Hoover scored twice to tie the score 3-3 in the fourth, Mason Ashby pulled a two-out, two-run double down the left field line to cap a four-run inning.

"The difference there the last week or so, when we had the opportunity to get out of those types of innings, we were getting out of them," Warner said. "We were making the plays."

Louisville committed five errors, walked six batters and hit two more on Friday. A passed ball and a wild pitch allowed Dyrlund to score and make it 3-2 in the fourth after a lead-off double. Braucher later tied the score with an RBI single that Warner said his defense should've handled.

He chalked up Friday to a learning experience from which he knows his Leopards can bounce back.

"I think we compete really well," Warner said. "Our pitching and defense have been leading the way, then we find a way to score some runs. When we were up 3-1, I felt like we had that same game flow going. But they put that big inning on us."

Senior Charlie Roberts blasted a no-doubt, two-run home run in the first inning to put Louisville up 2-1. Roberts and junior leadoff hitter Andrew Corona each went 2-for-4, with Corona smacking two doubles and Roberts adding a double to go with his first homer of the season.

Louisville junior lefty Bryce Graziani (1-1) struck out six in 3⅔ innings but was saddled with the loss.

Hoover senior Logan Welsted (1-0) got the win in his first appearance of the season. He pitched two-thirds of an inning before giving way to Braucher, who was lights-out with three strikeouts in 2⅓ innings. He entered with the bases loaded in the fifth and got a strikeout looking to escape.

"These guys have a lot of fight in them," Bryan Ashby said of the Vikings. "They were not happy with how a couple of games had gone. They've regrouped and banded together. I really love this group. They fight."

Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com 

On Twitter: @jweirREP 

This article originally appeared on The Repository: OHSAA high school baseball: Hoover Vikings vs. Louisville Leopards