The baseball regional tournament is an exciting time every year for participating players, coaches and spectators.
There are plenty of memorable performances and exciting plays in each game as teams vie for a trip to the state tournament.
The Division I regional semifinal matchup between North Canton Hoover and Walsh Jesuit at 2 p.m. Thursday at Louisville High School is full of intriguing parallels.
Both teams feature a coach who has a son starting at shortstop and batting at or near the top of the order.
Walsh Jesuit Baseball: Chris Kaczmar ready to embark on final season as Walsh Jesuit baseball coach
For Hoover (18-7), coach Bryan Ashby fills out the lineup card and his son, sophomore Mason Ashby, is the leadoff hitter.
Walsh Jesuit (24-5) is led by coach Chris Kaczmar and a strong senior class that includes his son, Henry Kaczmar, the second hitter in the lineup.
Here is a breakdown of each team:
Junior pitcher Ryan Piech is expected to get the ball on the mound Thursday for Walsh. Piech, a Xavier University recruit, has a 6-2 record with a 1.20 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 41 innings.
The Warriors' infield consists of junior catcher Mason Eckelman, junior first baseman Topher Salek, junior second baseman John Simecek, senior shortstop Henry Kaczmar and junior third baseman Joey Canzoni.
Walsh's outfielders are senior Will Harding in left, senior Andrew Gormley in center and junior Alejandro Covas in right. Senior Kasey Kish is the designated hitter.
Eckelman, a University of Michigan recruit, is Chris Kaczmar's nephew and WJ's batting average leader at .418. He also has 33 hits, four home runs, 26 RBI and 27 runs.
Walsh Jesuit Baseball: 'We go as they go': Cousins Henry Kaczmar, Mason Eckelman guide Walsh to baseball success
"It continues to be a joy to be with this team everyday," Chris Kaczmar said. "They are fun to be around and they make my job really easy to be the coach. This is a team that doesn't need any fingerprints by me. They go out and play the game the right way each day and I am just enjoying every minute of it. Hopefully, we can continue to play well in a very tough regional."
WJ topped Ellet 4-0 in a district semifinal and Mayfield 10-1 in a district final at Nordonia's Bernie Hovan Memorial Field last week.
Chris Kaczmar is in his 26th and final season as Walsh Jesuit baseball coach with a 611-122 record, four state championships, seven regional titles, 16 district championships and 22 sectional crowns.
Kaczmar is ready to step away from the dugout for several reasons, including to spend more time with his wife, Beth, their daughters, Emma and Lucy, and their sons, Stanley and Henry. Kaczmar, the President of Kaczmar Architects Incorporated in Cleveland, competed in baseball, wrestling and soccer at Walsh Jesuit before graduating in 1988. He earned a college degree from Miami (Ohio).
Walsh Jesuit Baseball: As final season draws to a close, Kaczmars relish every moment with Walsh Jesuit baseball
Kaczmar led Walsh Jesuit's baseball team to Division II state titles in 1999, 2004, 2006 and 2008. The Warriors were also a Division II state runner-up in 2009 and 2010, and a Division I state semifinalist in 2021.
"They are quite the team," Ashby said. "They are strong defensively, pitching and hitting. You look around their team and they have got guys going to Division I colleges. They look very stout. This is quite a challenge for our guys and we look forward to it.
"It is great that you are playing regional baseball right now. You are one of 16 Division I schools left. We get to play Thursday against Walsh Jesuit, who has had a great program for many years. Coach Kaczmar has had a great career. I know this is his last season and I know they are probably looking forward to sending him out on a winning note, and we are going to do our best to do what we do. ... I have a lot of respect for coach Kaczmar and the strong program that he runs. I know they have been a respected program for a number of years."
Walsh Jesuit Baseball: 'All four pitches were working': Ryan Piech leads WJ to district final with 19 strikeouts
Harding, a Holy Cross recruit, is batting .393 with 33 hits. Henry Kaczmar, a Michigan recruit, is batting .376 with 35 hits, five home runs, 29 RBI, 29 runs and 13 stolen bases.
Gormley, a Charleston recruit, is batting .371 with 23 hits, 12 RBI, 25 runs and 10 stolen bases. Simecek is batting .363 with 33 hits, two home runs and 24 RBI; and Cincinnati recruit Canzoni is batting .346 with 28 hits, four home runs, 23 RBI and 29 runs.
WJ's other key pitchers are Cincinnati recruit Drew Erdmann (5-1, 0.87 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 40⅓ innings); Jackson Phelps (5-0, 1.88); Gormley (3-0, 0.89) and Eckelman (two saves).
North Canton Hoover Baseball: 'An exclamation point for us': Tanner Ware, Deacon Heather lead Hoover baseball to district championship
Hoover won its first district championship in nine years last week with victories over Dover (3-0) and Boardman (5-0) at Canton's Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.
Bryan Ashby is in his fourth year as Hoover's coach after being an assistant coach and pitching coach for 10 years under former Vikings coach Jeff Hite.
Ashby played baseball, basketball and football at Hoover before graduating in 1988. Ashby pitched a five-hitter, struck out nine and hit a home run to lead North Canton Hoover to a 4-1 win over Walsh Jesuit in a Class AAA district semifinal in May of 1988. He continued his baseball career as a pitcher at Kent State from 1989 to 1992.
Ashby and his wife, Kristen, have two sons, Connor and Mason. Bryan is a managing partner and independent manufacturer representative with Next Generation Building Solutions, LLC in North Canton.
The Vikings were 5-5 through 10 games, and have compiled a 13-2 record in the past 15 games.
"At the beginning of the year, we didn't get off to a good start. We took a trip to Cincinnati and played St. Xavier and Hamilton Badin," Ashby said. "We lost two games to those guys, but we competed very well. When we got back from there, our guys seemed to flip a switch.
"... The guys have been playing with confidence and we have got a routine of how we do things. They are in a good routine and they are in a good place. We are playing good baseball at the right time."
North Canton Hoover Baseball: Hoover baseball in a groove, will play for district title
Hoover went 7-5 in the Federal League to tie for second place with Green and Lake. Jackson won the FL title with a 10-2 mark.
Senior left-handers Nick Vardavas and Tanner Ware are Hoover's top pitchers and threw back-to-back shutouts in the two district games.
Vardavas, a Miami (Ohio) recruit, is 6-2 with one save, a 1.71 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 41 innings. Ware, an Oakland University (Michigan) recruit, is 3-4 with a 1.67 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 42 innings.
Hoover junior Mason Bille and Mason Ashby are solid right-handed pitchers. Bille is 4-0 with one save, a 1.27 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 27⅔ innings. Ashby is 3-0 with one save, a 2.39 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 26⅓ innings.
North Canton Hoover Baseball: The uphill climbs of Hoover and Louisville baseball teams to OHSAA regional semifinals
The Vikings' infield consists of junior Drew Stangelo at catcher, sophomore Carson Dyrlund at first base, senior Luke Roach at second base, Mason Ashby at shortstop and senior Ty Sowers at third base.
Hoover's outfielders are senior Andrew Roach in left, senior Zach Zehner in center and Vardavas or junior AJ Caggiano in right. Senior Deacon Heather is the designated hitter.
Vardavas is Hoover's top hitter with a .395 average, 30 hits, three home runs, 24 RBI, 15 runs and six stolen bases.
Luke Roach is batting .365 with 27 hits, 13 RBI and eight runs. Dyrlund is a .309 hitter with 17 hits, two home runs, 14 RBI and 18 runs. Ashby is batting .297 with 22 hits, nine RBI, 21 runs and 15 stolen bases.
"We scrimmaged them in the preseason and I know that coach Ashby does an absolutely fantastic job with the North Canton Hoover baseball program," Kaczmar said. "I have a high level of respect for the tradition that his program has. I know that they play high-level baseball there and they have an extremely talented team and we have got our work cut out for us.
"... Coach Ashby is a good baseball man that I have a lot of respect for. He is a good guy and I admire the job that he does. His sons are obviously very talented. He has got one son [Connor] at Kent State and one son [Mason] on Hoover's current team."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Beaven on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hoover's Bryan Ashby, Walsh's Chris Kaczmar in similar roles
