Berlin Hiland secures third straight state title

DIVISION VI AKRON -- Lake Center Christian came so close. Trailing 3-1 going into the top of the seventh inning against back-to-back state champion Berlin Hiland, the Tigers erupted for three runs and a 4-3 lead, three outs rom their first state title. But the Hawks answered. Logan Yoder's RBI single capped a two-run rally, and Berlin Hiland walked off with a 5-4 win and the state championship, it third in as many years and its fourth in the last decade. The Hawks finished 31-1. The Tigers finished 28-4. Lake Center Christian reached the final by beating Elmwood in Saturday's semifinal in Canton. DIVISION VIIAKRON – Minster's Caleb Couse and James Niemeyer combined on a five-hit shutout and the Wildcats used a five-run second inning as a springboard to an 8-0 win over Newark Catholic in Saturday's Division VII state final at Akron's Canal Park.State ACME champion last summer, Minster earned its fourth OHSAA baseball crown while denying Newark Catholic a tenth title.Couse pitched five shutout innings, Niemeyer threw two and they combined for nine strikeouts. Minster's big second inning started with two walks. Two Newark Catholic errors, a bases-loaded walk and RBI singles by Reese Beair and Niemeyer produced the five runs.Beair and Andrew Wiss had three hits each and Louis Magoto had two. DIVISION IIIAKRON – Newark Licking Valley's Adam West singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored the game's only run on the game's only error to give the Panthers a 1-0 win over Hunting Valley University School in Saturday's Division III state final.Licking Valley's Evan Roberts gave up just three hits and struck out eight in getting a complete game win. Hunting Valley's Crew Bellan also pitched well, allowing just four hits and giving up the one run in the fourth inning. DIVISION I AKRON --Lewis Center Olentangy scored two runs in the first inning of its state final game against Springboro. And with the pitching of the Braves' Cameron Birch and Cooper Tracy, that was enough. Birch started and went five innings, allowing three hits and one run. He struck out seven and walked two. Tracy closed the game with two innings, retiring all six batters he faced and striking out four. Springboro eked out a run in the third, but couldn't keep Lewis Olentangy from securing its first state championship. DIVISION II AKRON -- Anthony Wayne scored at least one run in each of the first four innings, put up three in the third and coasted to its first state championship with a 7-3 win over Amherst Steele. Lukas Potkanowicz had two hits and drove in a run for the Generals and Jett Smith had two hits and scored a run. Jackson Urinovitch pitched for the Generals and went six strong innings, allowing three runs, two earned and picked up a win. DIVISION IV AKRON-- Mentor Lake Catholic managed just four hits in Sunday's final against Sandusky Perkins. But it pushed across three runs in the bottom of the fourth and held on to edge the Pirates, 3-2. Perkins had double the amount of hits as the Cougars, and scored single runs in the first two innings to go up, 2-0. But AJ Trobenter tied the game with a two run single in the fifth, then Brayden Mann put the Cougars on top with an RBI single. Lake Catholic held on from there to claim its first state title.