Too much Stalnaker….Twinsburg ace Josh Stalnaker allowed just four hits and struck out 7 to knock Berlin out in the Division I semi-final round. (Press Pros Photo by Sonny Fulks)
Olentangy Berlin’s remarkable and historic season came to a halt Friday in a stinging 4-1 defeat to Twinsburg. The Bears managed just four hits against Tigers ace Josh Stalnaker.
Akron, OH – For different reasons, Twinsburg and Olentangy Berlin came into Friday’s state tournament matchup regarded as teams of destiny. Unfortunately, one of the feel-good stories was destined to end in tears.
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“This is why I told the guys that winning district and regional titles are so special, because when you don’t reach your ultimate goal, it hurts and that’s what I’m feeling and we’re all feeling right now,” Berlin coach Mike Weaver said after his team fell to Twinsburg 4-1 in a Division I semifinal.
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“These types of accomplishments are reunion accomplishments. These guys will get together every five years to talk about this season. We feel bad about not playing our best today, it’s more upsetting to know this is the end of the season, and also the end for a special group of seniors.”
The Bears – fourth-ranked in the final Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association poll – simply not did not play their ‘A’ game and it turns out they needed it against pitcher Josh Stalnaker and his highly-motivated teammates.
“They’re a good baseball team and you’ve got to hand it to them,” Cincinnati-bound Berlin senior catcher Parker McDaniels said. “I still think we’re a better baseball team than them altogether, but sometimes the ball doesn’t go your way and today was one of those days.”
For starters, Stalnaker was brilliant in running his season record to 8-1. He allowed Berlin just four hits, striking out seven and walking two.
The Bears made plays…third baseman Maddox Pulliam snares this line drive in the fourth inning.
“Sure, I had some butterflies coming in, but as soon as I threw my first pitch it was all confidence,” the Ashland signee said. “As a pitcher, I knew one or two runs was all I was going to need. After they tied it at 1-1 (in the sixth inning), I had all the confidence in the world in my guys. We’ve had to persevere all year long.”
Senior first baseman Ascher Dent, who collected two of Berlin’s hits and tied the game with a clutch hit in the top of the sixth, had high praise for Stalnaker.
“He was really good,” Dent said. “I saw on the board his fastball was up to 92 or 93 (mph). I know him really well because I’ve faced him in the summer. I think I got some payback with two hits but they’re the team moving on.”
Said Weaver: “He’s a great pitcher, probably … no, the best we’ve seen all year. You’ve got to score more than one run. He had our number today and hats off to him and their team.”
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Stalnaker jump-started the pivotal sixth inning with a leadoff single. Starter Taylor Bednar committed a throwing error on a force play at second, then walked Aiden Teneja to load the bases.
Entering on a 3-and-1 count, reliever Kyle Haag then walked in the go-ahead run before the Tigers tacked on two insurance runs.
Dan
Berlin’s Daniel Barreca reacts to scoring the tying run off an Ascher Dent single in the sixth inning.
Bednar came in with a 9-0 record and a 1.09 ERA, but had trouble finding the plate while racking up 115 pitches in 5⅓ innings. McDaniels felt the strike zone was significantly smaller than in previous tournament games.
“Taylor was not getting his slider across like last week (in a regional semifinal shutout of Olentangy Orange), but he’s such a competitor and a grinder, he pitched out of some trouble and kept us in the game,” Weaver said.
Coming off a 6-17 campaign in 2023, Twinsburg’s program and community was jolted in the offseason by the death last December of head coach Jeff Luca in an auto accident. The unranked but unfazed Tigers are honoring him by wearing Luca’s name and uniform number on their warm-up shirts. They honored him even further with a highly unexpected run to the state championship game.
Berlin players console each other after the final out. They dropped the Division I semi-final game, 4-1, to Twinsburg. (Press Pros Photo by Julie McMaken Wright)
“In the name of coach Luca, who was a great friend of mine, this has been such an incredible run,” coach Jim Lipinski said. “A few people upstairs are helping us out. This is the first time in school history we’ve come this far and we’re playing with house money. Our guys are calm, cool and collected out there.”
Berlin’s accomplishments are nothing to sneeze at, either.
The community and school grounds were ravaged by a tornado March 15 that completely uprooted the baseball facility’s outfield fence, backstop, scoreboard and bleachers. The Bears played their first 16 games on the road, and still reached uncharted waters in a loaded Central District with traditional powers such as Grove City, Olentangy Orange and Olentangy Liberty.
“All the statistical stuff aside, it’s the memories created over four years with this senior class and everything they endured and battled through that I am most proud of,” Weaver said. “They’ve laid a foundation here. This is not a one-hit wonder.”
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Mason 1, Perrysburg 0
Indiana signee Jake Hanley — the OHSBCA player of the year — backed his own stellar pitching performance with the key hit of the second semifinal.
After Alex Koelling drew a two-out walk off starter Matt Hubbard in the top of the seventh of a scoreless game, Hanley made him pay. The 6-foot-6, 225-pound major league prospect scorched a double off the right field fence to score Koelling with the game’s only run.
Hanley lost his no-hit bid in the fifth but wound up with a one-hit performance featuring 11 strikeouts.
Mason (27-6) will be shooting for its first title on Sunday against Twinsburg. The Comets last made the title game in 1986.
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