One year after reaching a regional final, Kirtland baseball‘s postseason journey came to an end Wednesday night.
The Hornets battled throughout, loading the bases in their final at-bat, but Chippewa escaped the threat and secured a 6-4 victory in a Division VI regional semifinal at Louisville High School.
- More From OhioVarsity.com: 2026 Chagrin Valley Conference Baseball All-Conference Teams
“We had our shots,” said Kirtland head coach Luke Smrdel. “We definitely had our shots, but their pitching did keep us off balance a little bit. In a couple of key moments, we weren’t able to get the big hits.”
The loss closed the season for Kirtland at 18-9.
Chippewa struck first in the bottom of the opening inning. A walk and a single set the table before an RBI double gave the Chipps a 2-0 advantage.
Help Ohio Varsity Tell More Stories
Ohio Varsity is independently owned and provides local coverage of high school athletes, teams and communities throughout Northeast Ohio.
One-time and monthly donations available through PayPal.
Kirtland responded immediately in the second.
Chace Gron led off with a single, and Carson Kalous worked a walk. After a flyout, Noah Conner delivered an RBI single to put the Hornets on the board. Sebastian Becker followed with an RBI double, and a passed ball later allowed Conner to score as Kirtland surged in front 3-2.
The lead was short-lived.
Chippewa answered in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt before tying the game at 3-3.
The Chipps regained the lead in the third when a single and a walk set up a sacrifice fly that made it 4-3.
Kirtland had another opportunity in the fourth when Nate Chuko and Conner produced back-to-back singles. Chippewa escaped the inning, however, turning a double play after a fielder’s choice to keep its one-run advantage.
Meanwhile, Becker continued to battle on the mound.
“He’s a presence on the mound,” Smrdel said. “He’s a really good pitcher who has pitched in a lot of big games for us. He’s going to be our guy moving forward, too. At the end of the day, he did what he had to do to give us a chance to win. We just couldn’t come through with it.”
Chippewa created separation in the fifth. A leadoff error and a one-out double pushed the lead to 5-3, and another Hornet miscue helped bring home a sixth run.
Becker took the loss despite allowing only three earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. The junior scattered eight hits, struck out two, and walked two. Xavier Lasecki provided a strong relief effort, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
Kirtland mounted one final rally in the seventh.
Lasecki drew a leadoff walk before Lucci Cantini reached on a fielder’s choice. Ben DiFranco worked a walk, and Jack Turk lined an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-4. Another walk loaded the bases and brought the tying run aboard, but Chippewa recorded consecutive strikeouts to end the game.
Conner paced the Hornets offensively, going 2-for-2 with a run scored, RBI, and a walk. Becker added a double and an RBI, while Turk drove in a run. Cantini and Gron each scored once.
Despite the disappointing ending, Smrdel believes the Hornets’ latest regional appearance continues to strengthen a program that has become a consistent postseason contender.
“Overall, it was a good season,” Smrdel said. “We finished with a good record, we got to the regionals again, even though we were hoping to go a little bit further, but as luck would have it, it didn’t work out that way.
“It’s another building block. We’ve got another strong group of seniors coming up next year who have been here twice now. We do lose a lot, a lot of good characters in the locker room. We had a very good senior class this year, so it’s never easy to replace those guys, but we do have a lot left who’ve been here for a while, and hopefully we can see it through next year.”
Top Players
- Noah Conner (Kirtland): 2-for-2, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 walk
- Sebastian Becker (Kirtland): 1-for-4, double, RBI; 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 K
- Jack Turk (Kirtland): 1-for-4, RBI
- Chace Gron (Kirtland): 1-for-3, run scored, walk
- Xavier Lasecki (Kirtland): 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief
