Waynedale jumped all over Ursuline ace Andrew Kirila in a big 2nd inning and never looked back, taking down the Irish 8-4 Thursday night in regional semifinal action from Massillon. Connor Gatti got things going in the 4th with a single, and, after a series of passed balls, sacrifices, and errors, the Bears took a 3-0 lead.
Coming into the game, Kirila was sporting a 7-1 record with a 1.67 ERA. By the time he left the game in the 4th, the Golden Bears had racked up seven runs on six hits. The junior seemed to be hitting his spots, but the Waynedale hitters had themselves a day, reaching base 16 times in the game. They made the most of these opportunities and stole six bases.
On the hill for the Golden Bears was Trey Barkman, who went the distance and struck out five. The Irish got to the junior in the 5th, scoring three runs, but Barkman managed to get out of the jam with a 4-3 lead intact. The bats got rolling again in the bottom of the 5th as Waynedale put up three more runs by Gatti, Lehman, Miller, and Barkman to extend the lead to 7-3.
Ursuline mounted a threat in the top of the 7th, scoring a run and loading the bases, but Barkman got Joe Carosella to bounce out to 3rd to end the game. Leading the way offensively for the Irish was junior Tom Groner, who finished 3-4 with 2 RBI. For the Bears, the bottom half of the order led the way as Ian Lehman went 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Trey Barkman went 2-3 with 2 RBI and two runs scored.
For Ursuline (18-9), the loss ends a season in which the program saw massive improvement from a 12-15 record in 2021 and will return all but three hitters in Thursday’s lineup along with ace Andrew Kirila.
With the win, Waynedale (25-4) moves on to a regional final matchup with the Hawken Hawks Friday evening and looks to claim their first regional championship since 2016. Hawken advanced to the regional championship after beating South Range 2-1. The first pitch is scheduled for 5 pm at Carl “Ducky” Schroeder Field in Massillon. Tickets must be purchased in advance. You can click here to go to OHSAA site to get tickets.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | R | H | E | |
| Ursuline | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| Waynedale | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | X | 8 | 11 | 1 |
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