Calvert's historic run comes to an end

STRONGSVILLE — Calvert had success against Jayden Rishel in the first three innings.Less than 18 hours removed from Friday's regional semifinal win against Vienna Mathews in which they scored 12 runs, the Senecas continued their hot hitting.But, when Warren JFK went to reliever Gavin Shrum, Calvert could never figure out the mystery to keep things going.The Senecas went hitless over the final 4 2/3 innings falling to JFK 7-2 in a Division IV regional final at Strongsville High School on Saturday."I think Shrum was throwing his fastball when the umpire did give the high strike and he had some velocity behind it," Calvert coach Matt Coleman said. "For a smaller guy, he threw hard. We were trying to make him work a little bit. I felt like we squared a few balls up."Calvert wrapped up its season with a record of 24-7. The wins are a school-best in a season. The Senecas entered the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the rugged Clyde district, but meticulously made their way through, improving with each game before Saturday's loss."This was a big goal — not only to get to regionals, but to be the farthest a Calvert team has been," Coleman said. "We had some school records team-wise, but also individually... there is a lot of good kids that contributed to this run. It is 15-deep."Nick Palm opened the game with a walk before Nick Seifert singled into left field. Both moved up a base on a wild pitch from Rishel with Josh Gase at the plate. Gase put the ball in play and it looked like it would be a single up the middle to score both runs, but it struck the umpire. After convening, Gase was awarded first base, but Palm and Seifert had to return to their bases too.Mason Johnson, who had four hits in Friday's win, followed with a sacrifice fly to score Palm. Caden Otterbacher then grounded out to end what looked like to be a big inning for the Senecas."We had to get adjusted to the zone," Coleman said. "We were hoping we had two runs on the ball up the middle that hit the ump, but it wasn't to be."The Eagles (20-8) took advantage, but not before Calvert pitcher Max Paul started well. Paul induced a pair of groundouts before hitting Shrum to bring up Cameron Hollobaugh. The powerful senior battled through a 10-pitch at-bat before hammering a two-run home run to the opposite field."We thought we had him struck out," Coleman said. "He is a stud and a great player. He just took a pitch the other way after a great at-bat. You just tip your cap to a good hitter like that."The home run gave JFK a 2-1 lead after one inning. Hollobaugh had fouled off four pitches to the left before his shot towered over the right field fence."He fouled off two or three curveballs," Coleman said. "Max went with a fastball away, which we were trying to sneak by him. We thought we had a fastball earlier in the count where we had him. That is what good hitters do. They make adjustments."The Eagles continued the big hitting in the second inning. Michael Mauro reached on an error to open the inning, but was erased when Hunter Yeakle threw him out stealing. Rishel also reached on an error before Aidan Rossi singled and Santino Ciambotti was hit by a pitch to load the bases.Alex Desalvo walked to bring in a run to make it 3-1. Paul bounced back with a strikeout, but a wild pitch with Shrum at the dish scored Rossi. Shrum followed with a single to score Ciambotti for a 5-1 edge. Another wild pitch with Hallobaugh brought in Desalvo and ended Paul's day.Johnson entered and needed just two pitches to retire Hollobaugh, but the damage had been done."Max is a pretty relaxed individual, so I wouldn't say the home run had an effect on him," Coleman said. "He is a guy that likes to be down in the zone and work the corners. He was not necessarily getting that. He was trying to get a feel for his curveball."The Senecas looked for the immediate answer in the top of the third as Palm and Ethan Vera each singled. Seifert flew out, but Palm advanced to third on the play and scored when Gase singled into center field. Rishel then walked Johnson and that brought an end to his outing. Shrum entered with the bases loaded and got Otterbacher to pop out in foul ground before striking out Yeakle to thwart the Calvert inning.From there, Shrum was un-hittable — literally. He walked Ronski in the fourth inning, but struck out two batters and got a popout on the infield to keep Ronski at first. The Senecas went down in order in the fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh, Palm was hit by a pitch with one out, but a popout on the infield and fly out ended the Calvert hopes for a comeback.Johnson kept the Senecas in the game on the mound if the offense could have got going. He tossed 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits and two walks. He tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Seifert on Friday, but kept his pitch count low enough to be eligible to come back on Saturday."Mason was in some tough spots there too, but he worked out of them," Coleman said. "He is a battler and a guy that seems to have a runner arm. He is not afraid to come back the next day. My gut said to make sure he was available for this game."Paul (5-3) allowed six runs on three hits while walking two. Gase pitched a scoreless seventh inning for Calvert."I am super proud of the effort and battle," Coleman said. "We probably could have shut it down after the second inning when we were down 6-1. We battled and put up good at-bats."The Senecas say good-bye to six seniors — Seifert, Vera, Ronski, Leo Longo, Jack Shultz, and Lucas Immele."It will be big shoes to fill," Coleman said. "That is a cliche that is thrown out there a lot, but we have six seniors. There are three that have the calm demeanor and three that have that edge and are battle-tested. When you put it together, they strengthen this team."