STRONGSVILLE — The Highland baseball team experienced the joy and frustration that athletics can provide in its Division I district tournament games at Strongsville High School.
Highland totaled 17 hits and 14 runs in a dominant 14-0 win over host Strongsville in a district semifinal on Tuesday.
The results were the opposite Friday as Highland had two hits and was shut out in a 5-0 loss to Lakewood St. Edward in a district final. Junior Landon Sooy and senior Hunter Winston each hit a single for Highland (17-11).
The main story of the district final was the pitching of senior Henry Slaby, who finished with 13 strikeouts. Slaby, an Eastern Michigan University, pitched a perfect game with 18 strikeouts earlier this season in a win over Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.
"He threw any pitch he wanted in any count tonight," Highland coach Jay Grissom said of Slaby. "We have seen him throw a couple of times, and this was the best that I have seen him throw. Hats off to him. He kept us off balance. ... We just didn't get the ball in play enough, and when we had opportunities we didn't capitalize on them."
Sooy said: "His fastball, he located it. He used a high fastball to get some strikeouts and he had the spinner that he could go to at any point."
St. Edward (20-11) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after senior Danny Tome led off with walk. Junior Brayden Page and sophomore Grant Lashutka each laid down a bunt single and junior Karlo Hepp and sophomore Jack Laux lifted sacrifice flies to score Tome and Page, respectively.
The Eagles extended their lead to 3-0 in the second with one out. Senior Brady Barker walked, senior Vince Waters singled and Tome singled in Barker.
Page and Hepp each singled in the fifth. Laux singled in Page and senior pinch runner Logan Zaremba scored after walks to senior Drew Mahle and Barker.
"There is a lot to be proud of here," Grissom said. "We ran into a buzzsaw."
Grissom said Tuesday's 14-0 win over Strongsville was one of the highlights of the season. Winston pitched a six-inning shutout with nine strikeouts and added three singles, a run and an RBI. Sophomore Casey Myser had three hits, two runs and an RBI.
"We started off pretty slow and picked it up to get to where we are," Winston said. "We got to a district title game today, so that is pretty huge. The overall progression of everybody and the overall camaraderie from everybody is something to remember."
Junior Noah Radigan had two hits, two RBIs and three runs against Strongsville. Sooy totaled two hits, three RBIs and a run; senior John Toth had two hits, two RBIs and a run; junior Jayden Barr finished with two hits, two runs and an RBI and senior Shane Cope added a hit, a run and four RBIs.
"Hunter had a no-hitter against Revere [with 15 strikeouts in a 10-0 win in six innings] and the other time against Revere, he had 18 strikeouts [in a 5-0 win in seven innings]," Grissom said. "We did some good things this year. Yeah, a district semifinal win 14-0 on their home field as an underdog, that is a big win for us, definitely."
Highland will lose five seniors to graduation: Winston, Cope, Toth, John Farrell and Matt Fillinger. Winston is set to play baseball at Ohio University, Toth is headed to Ashland and Cope is going to Owens Community College.
"We are going to miss more who they are and what they do off the field," Grissom said. "Obviously, talented kids. You lose a group every year [to graduation], but they are just good kids you like being around. That is the hardest part."
Sooy praised the five seniors as "leaders."
"Hunter has got like a 100 strikeouts and he has been dominant every game," Sooy said. "Shane and Toth, they are great position players, and we also have Farrell and Matt Fillinger. They all really help out the team.
"... We had a really good season. We had a slow start and the batting average wasn't too high as a team, but we rallied together to end the year. Getting here is always an accomplishment. We have something to build on for next year."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Highland finishes baseball season as district runner-up to St. Edward
