'It's a pretty nice place to be'

BLOOMDALE – Elmwood held commencement for its graduating seniors two weeks ago.There's a group of students, though, that is not ready to leave those hallowed halls of high school behind, not quite yet, anyway."I guess we want to stick around high school," said Zack Gross, one of 10 seniors on the Royals' baseball team."It's a pretty nice place to be."For Elmwood's baseball team, the past few weeks certainly have been just that.Outside of a crunch-time 5-4, 10-inning win over Hopewell-Loudon in the Division VI district semifinals, Elmwood has been in control of its own destiny since post-season play started. In its other four tournament games, the Royals have outscored their opponents 34-8 by utilizing a take charge aggressive style of play."Our offense is one where we want to put pressure on the defense," Elmwood coach Matt Malecha said after the Royals stole five bases, scored three runs on sacrifice flies, twice on mishandled throws and once on a perfect suicide squeeze bunt in beating beat Evergreen 8-1 in Saturday's regional championship game. "And the way to do that, in my opinion, is to put the ball in play at a high rate, get bunts down, and take advantage if they are going to allow you to steal bases."Elmwood's ability to manufacture runs – and keep the opposition from doing the same – has earned the Royals a spot in the Division VI state semifinals that are stocked with elite teams. Elmwood, 22-8 and ranked 18th in the final Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association poll, faces No. 2-ranked Lake Center Christian (27-4) in Saturday's 1 p.m. matchup at Canton's Thurman Munson Stadium. No. 1-ranked and two-time defending Division III state champion Berlin Hiland (29-1) and No. 4 Fairview (28-3) square off at 10 a.m., with Saturday's winners meeting at 1 p.m. Sunday at Canal Park in Akron for the Division VI state title.Elmwood's state tournament appearance is the school's first since 2007, when Kyle Reiser and his "country hardball" approach saw the Royals finish second.Malecha has been trying to re-institute that style."That is something the legendary (OHSBCA) Hall of Famer Kyle Reiser put together here at Elmwood and we wanted to restore that," Malecha said.Malecha credits his 10 seniors, an unusually large group of veterans especially at a smaller school like Elmwood, with buying into the system, and he can pinpoint when it kicked in."We have 10 seniors. I give a lot of credit to their leadership," Malecha said."Last summer, I think we attacked ACME (baseball) in a smart way. Guys showed up, we got better, it was something we really emphasized."Then last fall … you know we have a ton of three-sport athletes, but we still got together once a month for team unity and that's when I saw our leaders start to lead. That was a big first steep."During this past season, there was a game about half through and we were trailing, we weren't playing well. Anything I would have said to the team at that point, our leaders stepped up and said before I could even say it."That's when I told them, 'You guys are now a player-led program.'"They were saying the things a coach would say. They knew the expectations and the standards. They were holding each other accountable."We were able to come back and win that game. That's the moment that really sticks out.""Having all these seniors helps us stick together," said Colton Bradford, a senior catcher for the Royals."Most of us have been playing all four years (of high school). We've been working well together. We've been trying to restore country hardball. That's what coach has been asking us to do, and hopefully we can get it done."For Elmwood's seniors, the rewards of the 2025 season may have been formulated even before they stepped into high school."We always thought we were going to have good seasons, even back in middle school," Gross said."Tradition has always been a big thing for us. When coach came here last year, that was a big thing he wanted to establish. Last year we took a big step. This year we just took off."