For Geauga County high school students, summer is a great time to participate in community sponsored sport and recreational activities and to have fun playing sports with friends.
For Geauga County high school students, summer is a great time to participate in community sponsored sport and recreational activities and to have fun playing sports with friends.
Many students with an interest in baseball choose to participate in the sport through various city run and community non-profit organizations.
During the summer, the Chardon Baseball League and the West Geauga Baseball and Softball Federation offer youth, 15-18 years old, the opportunity to play in the Colt League.
This summer, West Geauga and Chardon sponsored two teams each in the 15u -18u Willoughby Baseball Colt League.
Playing teams from Eastlake, Lyndhurst, South Euclid, and Willoughby, Chardon and West Geauga were very successful.
In fact, after going undefeated during the regular season, the 15u – 18u Chardon – Brockway Bond Insurance defeated West Geauga – Abate Landscaping, 10-8, to claim the Colt League Championship on July 23rd at Daniels Park in Willoughby.
In the Championship Game, Brockway Bond Insurance got out to an early 2-0 lead on a 2-RBI single by Matt Partridge.
However, Abate Landscaping quickly came back with a run of their own in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Maveric Milnar to cut the lead to 2-1.
Then, after scoring five runs in the bottom of the third inning, Brockway Bond Insurance took a 7-1 lead.
Undeterred, Abate Landscaping made a strong comeback in the final innings.
Outscoring Brockway Bond Insurance 7-3 in the fourth and fifth inning, Abate Landscaping trailed by only two runs at 10-8 heading into the top of the sixth.
To close out the game and seal the championship for Brockway Bond Insurance, Chardon Hilltopper sophomore JB Burton pitched strong in relief as he did not allow a run in the sixth and seventh innings.
Afterwards, Burton said that the team’s cohesiveness was a key in obtaining the victory.
“It was a great game, I feel like everyone came together, we put the bat on the ball, we had good defense, and that’s what helped us win this game,” said Burton.
For the Championship Game, Brockway Bond Insurance was led offensively by Partridge (2-4, 4 RBI, Double), Nathan Brockway (1-2, RBI, 2 BB), Burton (1-3, RBI, BB) and Sam Neubauer (1-3, RBI, BB).
Abate Landscaping was led offensively by Domenic Abate (2-3, RBI), Maveric Milnar (2-3), Bobby Parisi (2-3, RBI), Cole Williams (1-2), Henry Bartlett (1-2), Cole Goss (1-2, RBI, BB) and Jesse Tackett (1-3, RBI).
For the season, Abate Landscaping finished with a 12-3 record.
To make the Championship Game, Abate Landscaping defeated Eastlake in the quarterfinals, 19-3.
Throughout the five inning quarterfinal contest, Abate Landscaping accumulated 10 hits and 10 walks, while scoring three in the first, 6 in the second, 3 in the third, and 7 runs in the fourth.
Leading Abate Landscaping in the quarterfinal victory over Eastlake was Evan Sustin (3-3, 4 RBI, Abate (3-3, 2 RBI), Bartlett (1-1, RBI, BB), Tackett (1-1, RBI, 2BB), Parisi (1-2, 3 RBI, BB) and Jared Cottrell (1-2, BB).
In the semifinal game, Abate Landscaping defeated the South Euclid Cardinals, 7-6.
After falling behind 6-2 in the top of the fifth inning, Abate Landscaping tied the game at 6-6 after plating four runs in the bottom half of the inning on RBI singles by Kellen Scharf, Williams and Milnar.
Abate Landscaping then won the semifinal game in their final at bat.
In addition to Abate Landscaping’s strong hitting, their pitching was excellent throughout the season and the playoffs.
In particular, Bartlett pitched great in the playoffs, only allowing 1 earned run over six innings of work and striking out 10 batters. Overall, Bartlett had an excellent summer season on the mound. In 12 innings pitched, Bartlett had a 0.538 ERA and struck out 19 batters.
Additionally, Elijah Gudger, pitched phenomenally this summer. In 22 innings pitched, Gudger compiled a 0.636 ERA while striking out 42 batters.
Strong pitching also helped Brockway Bond Insurance in their playoff run.
In Brockway Bond Insurance’s 5-2 quarterfinal victory over Willoughby VFW 1500, Fox threw a 7 inning complete game, while only giving up 2 runs and striking out 12 batters.
Brockway Bond Insurance then took on Lyndhurst in the Semifinals.
In an extremely close semifinal contest, Brockway Bond Insurance defeated Lyndhurst, 5-4, to advance to the Championship Game.
In the semifinal contest against Lyndhurst, Brockway Bond Insurance was led offensively by Fox (3-4), Burton (2-3), Nolan Petzing (1-2, RBI, BB) and Partridge (1-3, 2 RBI).
To defeat Lyndhurst, Petzing was stellar on the mound as he threw 7 innings, giving up no earned runs and striking out 14 batters.
In summarizing the success of the season for Brockway Bond Insurance, Head Coach Jacob Snyder said that the development of team chemistry was instrumental.
“Our first game of the season ended in a tie, but from there on out we didn’t lose a single ball game,” Coach Snyder said. “After that first game we kind of jelled and throughout the entirety of the season we played tough and well together. They formed a nice unit, complimenting each other, keeping spirits up the whole time.”
Paul Fox, who started at catcher for the Gilmour Lancers as a freshman in 2025, also believed that excellent team chemistry was a reason for Brockway Bond Insurance’s successful season.
“Over the season, and after getting the wins, and just coming together as a team, I think we did a really good job of jelling and mixing together,” Fox said.
