Summit County-area high school baseball: 10 teams to watch in 2023

The high school baseball season is in full swing across the state of Ohio with beautiful weather this week.

The Greater Akron area is once again full of talented teams competing for league championships with aspirations of making runs in the state tournament later this spring.

Here is a list of 10 Summit County-area teams to watch in alphabetical order:

Akron baseball coverage: Summit County high school baseball: 15 players to watch in 2023

Archbishop Hoban Knights

Coach: Derek Carmichael

Carmichael is in his first season as Hoban coach after former coach Andrew Bonnette guided the Knights to a Division II state championship in 2021 and a Division II state runner-up finish in 2022. Hoban had a 47-19 record the past two seasons, and opened this season with wins over Perry, Mentor, Highland, Barberton and Cleveland St. Ignatius and losses to Louisville and Chardon.

Six players on this season’s Hoban team have made a college commitment to play baseball. Junior outfielders Michael Ciavolella (Ohio State, .386 batting average, 39 hits, 26 runs, 20 RBIs in 2022) and Parker Falkenstein (Wright State, .297, 21 RBIs, 20 runs) and junior pitcher Noah LaFine (Vanderbilt, 6-2, 2.98 ERA, 66 strikeouts in 47 innings) are in their third year as starters. Infielders Nate Shimmel, Andrew Karhoff (Ohio State) and Zach Zimmerman (Mercyhurst, .343) and outfielders Jordan Kievman (Louisville) and Masud Jennings also have big game experience.

Shimmel hit a grand slam in a 14-9 season-opening win over Perry and Karhoff pitched a shutout in a 4-0 win over Mentor. Shawn Parnell (Cincinnati), Nolan Holmgren (Marshall) and Caleb Kepler graduated so Carmichael has turned to Leo Wilson to play shortstop, Blake Bantum to play catcher and Karhoff, Kievman, Zimmerman, Ciavolella, Landan Browning and Luke Driscoll to pitch.

Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy Royals

Coach: Jason Herblet

CVCA returns five starters off last season’s team that made a Division II district semifinal appearance, won the Principals Athletic Conference championship and finished 25-3 overall and 12-0 in league games. C/INF Trevor Vojtkofsky, P/OF Otto Rogers and P/INF Jonathan Fridline are returning senior starters, joined by junior 2B Jules Hernandez and sophomore P/SS Ryan Wiehe.

Ace pitcher and power hitter Andrew Hendrickx graduated in 2022 and is at Kent State, but look for other players to step into larger roles. Vojtkofsky, an Indiana Wesleyan recruit, batted .514 last season with 37 hits, 43 RBI, 35 runs scored, 13 doubles, three triples, five home runs and 11 stolen bases. Rogers had a .355 batting average, 27 hits, 25 RBIs, 20 runs, two home runs and was 5-1 on the mound with a 1.48 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 28⅓ innings.

Ellet Orangemen

Coach: John Sarver

Ellet returns senior pitchers/outfielders Cameron Allen and Chase Merring after last season’s team went 14-8, advanced to a Division I district semifinal and won the City Series championship.

Allen is a Wright State recruit and was the City Series Player of the Year in 2022. He finished the season 6-1 with one save, a 0.60 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 47 innings, and batted .296 with two home runs and 18 RBIs. He pitched shutouts against Nordonia (3-0, eight strikeouts), Archbishop Hoban (6-0, no-hitter, 14 strikeouts), St. Vincent-St. Mary (2-0, two-hitter, 18 strikeouts, RBI) and Firestone (4-0, 10 strikeouts, hit a two-run home run).

Ellet also returns a talented senior class that includes 3B T.J. Brown, SS Trevor Ingham, RF Duane Brown, C Levi Lehman and CF/P Josh Faulconer. Merring contributed a one-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts, and hit a two-run single in a 3-0 win over Firestone last season, and Faulconer and Merring combined to shut out Tallmadge 1-0.

Green Bulldogs

Coach: Jon Wallace

Green features Ohio State recruit Brady Rollyson, a junior who plays shortstop and pitcher. Rollyson batted .391 last year and was a All-Federal League first-team selection. Green went 13-9 overall and 7-5 in the FL last year, and should challenge Jackson and North Canton Hoover for a league title this year.

Senior OF/P Luke Ickes, senior 3B Ryan Harrigle and junior OF/P Anthony Manderine are also returning starters for Green. Expect to see other players step into larger roles after the Bulldogs graduated Federal League Player of the Year Jacob Rollyson (now a freshman at Malone), Brayden Canter, Tyler Geckler and Drew Elliott.

Akron baseball coverage: Summit County high school baseball: 15 players to watch in 2023

Hudson Explorers

Coach: Buddy Dice

Hudson opened the season with a 4-1 record against Ohio foes on a spring break trip to Florida with wins over Sylvania Southview, Bellbrook, Bethel and Tipp City Tippecanoe and a loss to New Albany.

The Explorers went 10-16 overall and 5-7 in the Suburban League National Conference last year, but look to bounce back with 14 seniors. The following seven seniors have made a college commitment: C Sam Scharville (Roanoke), DH John Poole (Heidelberg), OF Kade Keown (Dennison), SS Preston Surace (Framingham State), P/1B Chris Maurer (Mount Union), 1B Jackson Eells (John Carroll) and P Brock Bivens (Cuyahoga Community College).

Scharville hit a home run in each of the first two games, and finished the trip to Florida with five hits and six RBIs. Keown added a home run in the opener, hit three doubles and had four RBIs. Maurer, Tye Dennison, Nathan Miller and Jack Britton each earned a win.

Stow Bulldogs

Coach: Aaron DeBord

Stow opened the season with a 5-0 record on a spring break trip to Alabama with wins over five teams from Alabama: Jemison, White Plains, Pelham, Deshler and Wellborn. The Bulldogs went 12-15 overall and 5-7 in the Suburban League National Conference last year, but look poised for a bounce-back season with 13 seniors and the addition of junior second baseman/pitcher Joey Lehner, a transfer who played at CVCA.

Senior CF Reed Sackett (Findlay) batted .571 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama, with eight hits, six runs, four stolen bases and three RBIs. Seniors Frank Miller (Mount Union) and Jake Holmes combined to go 8-for-16 and score nine runs. Senior C Cavan Kalpac had six RBIs; senior SS Nicky Sackett (Akron) totaled five RBIs, five runs and four stolen bases; Dominic King had four RBIs; and Lehner had six stolen bases, four runs and three RBIs. Daniel Jambor, King, Lehner, Max Barnes and Andrew Kriska each earned wins, and Aiden Clark and Rider Spath recorded saves.

Tallmadge Blue Devils

Coach: Kenny Linn

Tallmadge returns six starters from last year’s team that made a Division II district final appearance, finished 18-9 overall and was second to Aurora in the Suburban League American Conference with a 10-4 mark. The Blue Devils feature senior C/P/SS Seth Yacobucci, a Lake Erie recruit, who batted .351 last season with 26 hits and 20 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He also threw out 19 base runners attempting to advance.

The other returning starters are senior 1B/P/OF Beau Gromley (.373, 18 RBIs); senior OF/3B Eric Prior (.319); junior P/OF Keagan Gilbride (4-2); senior P/INF/OF Brady Parks (Malone, 3-0, three saves); and senior 3B/OF Isaac Tharp. Tallmadge opened the season with a trip to Myrtle Beach and went 3-1 with wins over Bennet Academy (Illinois), Russell County (Kentucky) and Bethlehem (Kentucky) and a loss to Worthington Christian (Ohio). Gilbride hit a walk-off grand slam in Tallmadge’s home opener, a 7-5 win over Highland. Parks improved to 3-0 in 2023 with a 3-2 win over Revere in a game that included a two-run home run by Mark Manzo.

Twinsburg Tigers

Coach: Jeff Luca

Twinsburg posted a 16-6 overall record last season and finished second to Wadsworth in the Suburban League National Conference with an 8-4 mark. The Tigers graduated six starters in Reggie Bussey (Oakland University), Jack Lyden, Chris Bryant (Ashland), Dylan Minor, Trevor Horvath and Henry Holman (Ohio Wesleyan).

Juniors Jaden Dye and Kris Kimmel and seniors Ernie Phillips and Ron Fruscella are returning starters. Dye, an outfielder, batted .317 last season with 14 stolen bases. Phillips is a pitcher and infielder, Fruscella is a catcher and pitcher and Kimmel is an infielder.

Wadsworth Grizzlies

Coach: Greg Pickard

Wadsworth posted an 18-7 overall record last year, won the Suburban League National Conference championship with a 10-2 mark and was a Division I district runner-up. John Allen (University of Akron), Skylar Kries (Cuyahoga Community College) and Drew Mason (Hiram) graduated off last year’s team, but the Grizzlies return a solid core with six returning starters.

Catcher Daniel Hall (Davenport) and center fielder Aaron Keating (Mercyhurst) are senior leaders. Keating batted .444 with six runs in Wadsworth’s first three games — wins over Nordonia (15-5), Mentor Lake Catholic (5-2) and Stow (2-0). Junior SS/P Kyle Figuray, senior INF/OF Ben Leopold, junior DH/P Jon Byers and junior 3B/1B Ethan Green are also returning starters. Junior Finn Schmitt has wins over Nordonia and Stow with 15 strikeouts in 10 innings, and sophomore Kai Close was hitting .500 through three games.

Walsh Jesuit Warriors

Coach: Joe Bowers

WJ returns six starters and 21 letter winners off last year’s team that went 25-6 and made a Division I regional final appearance. Bowers, a 2008 WJ graduate, is in his first season in charge after Chris Kaczmar stepped down after 26 seasons that included four Division II state championships, 612 wins and 123 losses.

Henry Kaczmar (Ohio State), Andrew Gormley (Charleston) and Will Harding (Holy Cross) graduated in 2022. WJ opened this season with wins over Toledo Central Catholic, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Mentor and a loss to Jackson.

The following 11 seniors have made college commitments: C Mason Eckelman (Ohio State, .430, 37 hits, 27 runs, 26 RBI, four home runs), P Ryan Piech (Xavier, 7-2, 1.02 ERA, 77 strikeouts in 48 innings), SS Joey Canzoni (Cincinnati), P Drew Erdmann (Cincinnati), LF Justin Bremner (Canisus), CF Alejandro Covas (Youngstown State), DH John Simecek (St. Xavier), 1B/RF Topher Salek (John Carroll), 3B/P Matt Serdinak (Ohio Northern), P Kevin Holland (John Carroll) and P Jack Paulus (Miami of Ohio). WJ has a 12th player committed to a college in freshman pitcher Shawn Sullivan (Alabama).

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 10 high school baseball teams to watch in 2023 in Greater Akron