'The ride was amazing'

About an hour before the first pitch of the Division VII state final between Leipsic and Delphos St. John's on Saturday, players and coaches for the Vikings walked through the concourse of 7 17 Credit Union park in Akron.In a matter of seconds, the fans on the first base side – nearly all of whom were dressed in purple and gold – began to applaud.The Leipsic players and coaches, most with big smiles, slapped hands with their classmates and other supporters.For a moment, it appeared like all of Leipsic was in Akron, and all of them were saying 'thank you' to the team that had reached the state final for the first time since the Gerald Ford administration."We haven't been here in 50 years...to be here right now is really special," said sophomore first baseman/pitcher Julian Zuniga. "Just had to take a moment to take it all in and play a good ballgame."After the Vikings were beaten in the final by Delphos St. John's, Leipsic coach Darren Henry had a message for his players."What an amazing ride they gave the whole community," said Henry, who has won more than 400 games in his 25 years leading the Vikings, but had never reached the state tournament before this year. "You look at our crowd today, and I told (the players), 'You guys did that. You guys got the community together and gave them something to cheer about.'"It was an incredible postseason run for the Vikings. They lost four of their last five regular season games, then inched past Kalida, 4-3 in the district semifinals. After a lopsided win against Edgerton in the district final, Leipsic rallied to beat New Riegel, then scored three runs in the seventh to walk-off Montpelier in the regional final."This is just a crazy year of ups and downs," said catcher Myles Camareno. "We got coach Henry here, we got him over the hump."What followed was one of the craziest games of the year.The Vikings trailed South Webster 6-2 and 8-4 in the state semifinal, but scored six runs in the sixth, and won in a walkoff again, 11-10, at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.John Dewar, the senior third baseman and pitcher, had the game-winning hit in the regional final and the state semi.After getting the RBI single to beat South Webster, Dewar said that "This has to be the No. 1 (moment). I'll remember this until the day I die."He won't be the only one.Still, Leipsic rarely made it easy. It had to use multiple pitchers in every game since the regional, and there were some defensive miscues along the way.But the Vikings kept coming back."It wasn't always pretty," Henry said. "We aren't always pretty when we do it, but (we) were just finding ways to get it done in the end. That's what I'll always remember.""We're a family," said sophomore shortstop/pitcher Aaron Hazelton. "Everybody believes in each other, everybody works together, we're just all a team. It's not just one person."Even the 10-0 loss to the Blue Jays in the final Saturday didn't diminish Leipsic's accomplishments."Today's very disappointing," Henry said. "But still, the ride was amazing." ONE FOR ALL THE EAGLES: Liberty-Benton's run in the state finals ended in the Division V semis in Canton, with a 5-2 loss to Gahanna Columbus Academy.But for L-B's program, which had never made a state appearance, it was still a rewarding experience."It's gonna take a few days, but it was a really special year," Eagles coach Matt Rader said. "You look up (in the stands), it was all blue today. I don't have a lot of words today. It's gonna hurt for a little bit, but we had a lot of support behind us."And though the trip to state was big for the Eagles seniors, like third baseman Zach Elchert, outfielder Reid Irwin and infielders Mack Smith and Isaac Schworm, Rader said the run also meant something to players from the past."Even if you graduate, you're still part of it," Rader said. "How many people have reached out to us (this week) who have played over the years? You don't graduate and just move on. You're always a part of it." PLAYING IN CANTON-AKRON: This past weekend's games were played at the current and former homes of the Cleveland Indians/Guardians' Double A Teams.The semifinals for area teams this week took place at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.The park – which opened in 1989 and was named for the late Yankees catcher and Canton native – was the home of the Canton-Akron Indians from 1989-1996.Matt Coleman, Tiffin Calvert's baseball coach, is a longtime, committed fan of Cleveland's baseball team.He even caught a home run hit by the Tribe's Jason Kipnis in Game 6 of the 2016 World Series.The Senecas, in the state semis for the fourth time in five years, were beaten by eventual Division VII state champion Delphos St. John's on Friday, 5-3.After the loss, Coleman jokingly said how his team could have used former Cleveland sluggers "Joey Belle and Manny Ramirez."Belle (known as Joey when he played at Double A Akron-Canton in the late 80s, before going by his first name, Albert) and Ramirez each had runs at Canton-Akron, before getting the call to the big leagues.The finals were held at 7 17 Credit Union Park in downtown Akron. The stadium, known as Canal Park until this season, has hosted Cleveland double A teams since 1997. The squad was first known as the Aeros, and is now called the RubberDucks.The