Chardon fell to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 2-0, in a Division III Regional 17 semifinal game June 3 at Hudson High School.
Chardon fell to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 2-0, in a Division III Regional 17 semifinal game June 3 at Hudson High School.
The Hilltoppers and Royals entered the fourth inning scoreless before CVCA broke through for two runs, and eventually the win.
“One of the reasons this hurts is because we like being together as coaches with the kids,” said Coach Bob Francis, who shares the head coaching duties with Greg Fronk. “It didn’t hit me really until I was getting some of the paperwork ready for regionals. We went through a couple of bad spells during the season, and seeing how the seniors rallied the team, and how the underclassmen responded to pull out of that and get us here, is really commendable. Those are life skills right there.”
Zac Anderson lined a go-ahead RBI single to right field to give the Royals the lead before a wild pitch brought home Alex Mommone for a 2-0 lead.
That lead held, with Chardon pitcher Tim Robertson spinning a gem to keep the Hilltoppers in striking distance.
“Tim’s just a competitor,” Coach Greg Fronk said. “He brings four pitches into every game, whether they’re strikes or not. I don’t know what he does out there to get the opponents to swing or keep them off balance, but he’s just a dog. He’s got one more year with us, and we hope he carries us again next year.”
Chardon’s plan coming into the year was to reach the Sweet Sixteen in the next three years, but now they’ve done it from the jump.
The only way to go from here is up for this 2022 state champion team.
“We’re planning on doing it again,” Coach Fronk said. :These seniors carried us this year, and now we’ve got some dudes that have to step up.”
What’s nice about needing to fill the holes left by a strong senior class is that there are only five seniors, so Chardon’s 2027 team will be loaded with experience.
“I would say that they all love baseball,” Coach Francis said. “Our seniors do, too, but the underclassmen love baseball. They’re gonna carry this on through the summer and hopefully into a productive offseason before next spring.”
Even better, the entire pitching staff, including Robertson, will return next season.
“Tim’s coming back, JB Burton’s coming back, John Timko is coming back, and we’ve got a few other juniors and sophomores ready to go,” Coach Fronk said. “This year, we came in knowing we’re gonna have to find hitters, and these guys surprised us. … Now the focus is getting the regionals the next two years, thanks to the arms we have coming back.”
Robertson went the distance, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts, while Jayden Buth collected his team’s lone hit, going 1-for-3.
The Hilltoppers finished their season 18-13 with a district championship win.
