39 years later: Girard prepares for Lake Catholic in regionals

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5 days ago

GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) — For the first time since 1986, Girard baseball will compete in the Regional Semifinals against top-seeded Lake Catholic on Tuesday following its 4-1 victory over Ursuline for the district crown.
'It's a great accomplishment,' said coach Aaron Alejars. 'We have a cohesive group with an [unyielding] mentality. It's been a long struggle but credit those who are here now and who've been with the program in year's past. We're all one big Girard family. The hope is that this will open the eyes to future [classes], 'If they could do it – why not us?' I'm so very proud of these kids.'
The path to June baseball wasn't an easy process.
The Indians owned a 13-8 record on May 13. Then, within a 5-day span, Girard closed out its regular season slate with four consecutive setbacks to finish fourth in the Northeast 8 standings.
Limping into the postseason, Girard was matched against last year's state Division II champion West Branch.
In the bottom of the seventh, Zach Ward belted a game-tying single to center to send the contest to extra innings.
With the bases loaded in the eighth, Dom Phillips was hit by a pitch to score the winning run as Girard advanced to the districts, 5-4.
A 6-run sixth lifted the Indians past Perry 7-4 to move onto the district finals. Cam Herrick tossed seven innings to earn the win on the mound. Four Indians finished with multiple hits – Phillips (3), Will Hynes (2), Ward (2) and Kaiden Clare (2).
In the district championship game from Skeeles Field on the campus of The University of Akron, the Indians trailed Ursuline 1-0 before scoring three runs in the fifth frame to post the eventual 4-1 win over the Fighting Irish.
Dominick Tolone hurled a complete game, 4-hitter as No. 7 also struck out nine batters. Offensively, the Indians closed out the afternoon with 9 hits – led by Joey Alejars, Ja'den Royal and Herrick, who each had two hits apiece.
'From the get-go, I knew we had the potential and experience returning – eight seniors, five of which are 4-year letter winners – everyone on this team has an important role,' Alejars said.
Hynes, a 2-time All-League First-Team recipient, has compiled 74 hits – 22 for extra bases – and 63 runs scored over the past two seasons. This year, he leads Girard in hitting with a .408 average and 34 stolen bases.
Ward, who had a pair of walk off hits against Lakeview and Poland during the regular season, accumulated 8 doubles and 28 RBIs while hitting .337 (31-92).
A pair of juniors are near the top of the team's leaderboard with Royal – nicknamed Moose – and Herrick, are batting .400 and .356, respectively.
The pitching staff features three hurlers who've logged an ERA of 3.21-or less while throwing at least 23 innings – Herrick (3.21 in 56 2/3 IP), Tolone (2.14 in 36 IP) and Royal (1.83 in 23 IP).
A year ago, Lake Catholic finished 12-12.
With eight seniors returning, the Cougars had high hopes entering the 2025 season.
'We have a great senior group that we've leaned on this year,' said coach Brian LeRoy. 'Watching them work over the winter, I kind of knew what they were capable of with their maturity level [and talent] returning.'
Following its playoff run that saw the Cougars defeat three opponents by a combined score of 40-1, Lake Catholic has arrived in the regionals for the first in fourteen years with a record of 22-4.
'We harp on playing Cougar baseball – that means throwing strikes, playing clean and putting the ball in play,' LeRoy said.
Four-year starter and two-time league MVP AJ Trobenter, the team's catcher, leads the Cougars in batting average (.449), extra base hits (18), homers (5) and RBIs (26).
On the corners in the infield are a pair of juniors – Brayden Mann (.391 BA, 7 2Bs, 21 RBIs) and Micah Nytrae (.380 BA, 13 2Bs, 15 RBIs).
Lake Catholic's pitching staff has been electric; amassing a team ERA of 1.64 over the course of 175 innings. Three hurlers stand out in seniors Patrick Radigan (6-1, 87 Ks, 1.25 ERA), Shea Sievers (5-1, 32 Ks, 1.46 ERA) and all-state quarterback Frankie Trinetti (6-2, 43 Ks, 2.45 ERA).
LeRoy considers Radigan, 'the best pitcher in Division 4'. The Ashland commit set the school mark for the most strikeouts in a single season. Radigan also became the first pitcher to toss an immaculate inning – 9 pitches and 3 strikeouts – in program history.
Regarding their regional opponent (Girard), LeRoy says, 'Any team who's left at this point must be [challenging]– we don't have a common opponent. Looking at them from afar, they have a couple quality pitchers, they do a great job of putting the ball in play and they run the bases really well.'
Girard has successfully stolen 106 bases this year.
'Speed kills,' Alejars said. 'This could be one of those games where runs could be hard to come by. You can't teach speed, if we can steal a couple bases – that could be a huge advantage for us.'
'We must control their run game,' LeRoy said. 'That's part of our preparation for the game. In the end, we believe we can hang with anyone.'
The Indians (16-12) will face Lake Catholic (22-4) in the Regional Semifinals from Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Alejars says of the Cougars, 'They're the No. 1 seed, the team to beat. They should be the favorite; however, just like in a boxing match – we have a puncher's chance. This team has this mentality of never giving up – that was instilled in me, at a young age, by my father and by my coaches. It makes me proud to see they have it, too.'
2025 Girard IndiansCoach: Aaron AlejarsRecord: 16-12
ResultsIndians 4 Ursuline 1*Indians 7 Perry 6*Indians 5 West Branch 4*Hubbard 6 Indians 0Fitch 8 Indians 6Poland 8 Indians 0South Range 3 Indians 2Indians 7 Struthers 4Indians 7 Struthers 1East Palestine 4 Indians 2South Range 4 Indians 2Indians 4 Poland 3Hubbard 8 Indians 6Indians 8 Anderson County 2Anderson County 13 Indians 2Carter 6 Indians 3Indians 6 Chaney 4Indians 13 Springfield 3Indians 8 Harding 0Indians 11 Salem 6Indians 9 Columbiana 2Lakeview 3 Indians 2Indians 6 Lakeview 5Indians 3 Jefferson 1McDonald 8 Indians 5Indians 5 Niles 0Indians 12 Niles 1West Branch 2 Indians 1
Team StatsBatting Average: .291Earned Run Average: 3.29
Individual Statistical LeadersBatting AverageWill Hynes – .408 (42-103)Ja'den Royal – .400 (34-85)Cam Herrick – .356 (26-73)Zach Ward – .337 (31-92)Dom Phillips – .289 (22-76)
Runs ScoredWill Hynes – 37Dom Phillips – 22Ja'den Royal – 21Joe Marsco – 16Zach Ward – 12
DoublesWill Hynes – 13Zach Ward – 8Dom Phillips – 6Cam Herrick – 5Joe Marsco – 4
TriplesWill Hynes – 2Cam Herrick – 1
Home RunsZach Ward – 1
Runs Batted InZach Ward – 28Ja'den Royal – 23Will Hynes – 11Joe Marsco – 10
Stolen BasesWill Hynes – 34Joe Marsco – 16Dom Phillips – 15Zach Ward – 10Ja'den Royal – 10Joey Alejars – 9
Earned Run AverageJa'den Royal – 1.83Dominick Tolone – 2.14Cam Herrick – 3.21
Pitching WinsCam Herrick – 4Ja'den Royal – 4Ricky Plant – 4Dominick Tolone – 3
Strike OutsCam Herrick – 60Dominick Tolone – 43Ja'den Royal – 29Ricky Plant – 21
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