Swank on Sports

Edison Chargers High School Athletics

Another No Hitter for Edison

          Edison, the leader in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, smoked Vermilion (7-0) Wednesday in a league game.

          Abe Hermes threw a no hitter for the Chargers (14-1,6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division.  It’s their second no, no, in a week’s time.

          Coach Sean Hoover says Hermes was in command.  “Abe threw seven strong innings.  He threw a no hitter with 11 strikeouts,” he said. 

          Hoover says Hermes had an outstanding fastball on Wednesday.  “I thought he mixed his pitches really well.  He stayed more aggressive with his fastball.  I think seven of his 11 strikeouts were looking and it probably six of those seven were fastballs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “He sometimes tries to get little tricky and tries to fool the guy and (Wednesday) he just stuck with his hard stuff.  He's got a pretty good, quick, dominant fastball and he really kind of rode that pitch.”

          Hoover says part of being a very good pitcher is understanding what’s working for you.  “He was spotting those corners well.  I think he got his first couple on that pitch and then he just kind of stuck with it and was really dominant with it all night long,” he said.

Published 5/01/25

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Edison No Hits Huron

          Bryson Wittmer and Abe Hermes combined on a no hitter on Tuesday as Edison blanked Huron (5-0) in a action of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they were dominate.  “Bryson (Wittmer) really threw the ball well.  He went the first six and had 14 strikeouts and then Abe (Hermes) came in and finished it off with a hitless inning and a couple strikeouts of his own,” he said.

          Edison has been a haven for pitchers over the last several years.  Hoover says they don’t do anything special they just have kids that are willing to work hard.  “We've been obviously fortunate to have a lot of good pitchers go through.  I don't know that we do anything super special compared to everybody else.  We just have got a lot of good baseball kids that want to put in the time in the off season to make themselves better.  A lot of good competitors who want the ball in those big situations in those big games,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Tuesday, “We've been fortunate enough to have a lot of big games and you know kids get to learn from each other.  They see the kids in the years ahead of them.  How well they pitch in the big games.  The big games they pitch in and how they handle themselves.  I think there's a little bit of a trickle down effect there.  That really helps out some of our younger kids to want to get to that point in their high school career.”

          Hoover is a believer in the phrase that winning breads winning.  “When you're younger and there are pictures of the kids in their little league uniforms from the year we went to state and they remember that.  Those kids want to be those high school players someday.  Winning is definitely a big part.  That tradition that a lot of good programs have.  People see the winning and they want to continue it and they want to be a part of it and that makes them willing to put in the time and effort to try to make it so they can get to that point themselves,” said Hoover.

Published 4/23/25

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Edison Beats Perkins in Extras

          Edison edged Perkins (4-2) in nine innings in a crossover game in the Sandusky Bay Conference Wednesday at Sports Force Park in Sandusky.

          Cole Leimeister was key for the Chargers.  It was his two run double in the top of the ninth that provided the winning margin, plus he pitched three scoreless innings in relief of starter Abe Hermes.

          Edison coach Sean Hoover says it was a good win for the Chargers.  “Perkins is a solid team great program there.  It was a close one.  We were able to make some big pitches when we needed to.  Cole Leimeister came up with a big hit in the ninth inning there to get us a couple runs across the plate and we were able to finish it off,” said Hoover.

          Neither team had any errors and Hoover says it was a pretty clean game for his team overall.  “We played well throughout the whole game.  There were maybe a base running hiccup here or there, but yeah both teams battled hard.  Definitely playing well early people look at the mistakes late in the game maybe when you lose but the ones early can cost you too,” he said.

          The game was not scheduled until late in the day on Wednesday and Hoover says they were excited to play a good team like Perkins.  “We've got a pretty tough schedule here.  This game kind of was impromptu.  It came along the last part of the school day and we jumped on it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We need to get some more games in here early before we get into our league schedule, so when Perkins called and said they had a field and they were looking for an opponent, we jumped on it.

Published 4/03/25

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Edison Looks Pretty Good

          Edison, the defending champion of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, will field another pretty good team this season.

          They open the season on Saturday at Tiffin Calvert, in a crossover game in the “SBC”.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they have looked pretty good during the preseason.  “We are off to a good start here, a good preseason.  We have got a good mix of some young guys and some old guys.  If things come together, I think we can have another good year,” he said.

          Hoover says again their pitching should be pretty good.  They have some talent and some depth.  “We have Bryson Wittmer coming back off an injury from last year.  We have Abe Hermes, who was kind of our closer in that role last year.  He’ll step on the mound there and be the number two,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Eli Hermes is coming back as a sophomore and pitched a lot of innings for us as a freshman.  So, we have got some other quality upper classmen there that haven't really had to pitch much but can pitch.  We like where our pitching is at right now.”

          Offensively, Hoover says they can do a lot of things.  “I think we are a team that can do both if we need to.  We have some team speed.  We also have some guys that can hit the ball over and outfielder’s head in the right situations.  So, I think that will be able to do maybe whatever the situation dictates,” he said.

Published 3/28/25

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Edison in Position

          Edison downed Willard (10-6) on Tuesday evening in play in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and that moved them into a share of the division lead with Huron.

          The Tigers lost (4-3) to Margaretta on Tuesday.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they are used to playing in big games.  “We've been fortunate enough to put ourselves in spots where those games at the end of the year are important.  We have won our fair share of them. We have got a couple more tough league games to finish out the week here and try to keep our race here with Huron going,” he said.

          The Chargers have advanced to the state final the last two years.

          Hoover says a key to the playing in these kids of games is to concentrate on your own game.  “We talk to our guys all the time about that we have to have our own approach to the plate and not to worry about what they're doing their dugout and on the field that kind of stuff.  We have our own things we have to do to be successful.  When we're out there we need to do that whether we're playing somebody who's undefeated or somebody who hasn't won that many games.  We just need to go and play our game and take care of us,” said Hoover.

          Edison (13-3,6-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, plays Port Clinton, winless in division play, on Wednesday and improved Willard again on Saturday.  Huron plays Port Clinton on Thursday.

          The Chargers lost a lot to graduation, but Hoover says this year’s team has really matured this spring.  “We've graduated a lot the last couple years with all this success we've had.  We had a new group we had coming in.  We said from the beginning we like who we have we just haven't seen them playing varsity games and we didn't know how quickly they would come along,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Honestly, they've done a great job of picking things up very quickly and coming in and battling from really the first day.  It's been very gratifying to watch these kids work hard and kind of take their place up here on the varsity and then kind of run with it and have some success.”

Published 5/08/24

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Edison Keeps Pace

          Edison beat Vermilion (5-3) on Monday evening to maintain a share of the lead in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They share first with the Huron Tigers, who beat Willard (10-4) on Monday.  The Chargers (11-2,4-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, play Huron on Wednesday.

          Coach Sean Hoover says the win was big for a couple of reasons.  “Especially in the league and Vermilion got us the first time in a walk off at their place.  So, it was pretty big for us, not only in the league standings, but just confidence wise since they had gotten us the first time,” he said.

          Vermilion beat (4-3) earlier in the season and so far that is the Chargers only league loss.

          Blake Simon picked up his third win of the season and Hoover says Simon and Abe Hermes did the job.  “Blake did a nice job there for five innings.  Kind of kept them off balance,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We threw the ball around a little bit on a couple bunts to help them get a couple of their runs there in the third inning.  Then Abe Hermes came in and threw strong to finish them off.”

          Davin Wendt hit a first inning homer for the Chargers and Hoover says that game them some energy.  “Davin hit a home run in the first inning and it was nice to see.  He's got probably more power than people give him credit for because he's not real big.  He went pretty well to right and got it up in the wind and that got us our first run,” said Hoover.

Published 4/30/24

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Edison Hammers Port Clinton

          Three Edison pitchers combined on a one hit shutout and the Chargers blasted Port Clinton (13-0) in five innings on Monday night in play in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Coach Sean Hoover says all three of their guys were on their game.  “Carson (Smith) did a really nice job on the mound.  Eli and Abe (Hermes) finished up with a couple strong innings.  At the plate we got some timely hits and did a good job with just really being patient and waiting for our pitch,” he said.

          Smith had eight K’s over three innings pitched.

          Marcus Medina led the offensive onslaught with three RBI on the night.

          Hoover says his kids have been staying patient.  “Our guys up and down the lineup have been doing very well.  We've scored a lot of runs here lately, which I guess if you asked me earlier in the season, maybe before we started, that was probably one of the things we need to work on the most,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Our guys have really bought in and just do a great job of trying to get on the ball so they could hit early in the counts and go up there and battle every pitch.”

          Edison (9-2,3-1), #4 in the first Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, shares first place with Huron in the Bay Division Standings.  The Chargers host Margaretta in a division game on Wednesday afternoon.

          Hoover says he wants the players to go to the plate with a plan in mind.  “We keep charts on pitcher tendencies and stuff for opponents and things like that.  So, hopefully the guys check those out enough that they have an idea of what the pitcher might throw when and just kind of go up there with an approach of what they're looking for in certain pitches,” said Hoover.

Published 4/23/24

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Edison Back in Regional Final

          Edison and winning tournament baseball is like are like Bacon and Eggs, Batman and Robin, or a black suit and a nice red tie, they are things that go together well.

          That was the case again Thursday as the Chargers beat Wayne Trace (6-1) in a division III regional semifinal at Patrick Henry High School.

          Friday, they will play Ottawa Hills, a (3-1) winner over Columbus Academy on Thursday in the other regional final, for the regional championship.  It would be their second in a row, the Chargers beat Ottawa Hills (3-1) a regional final last year.

          Edison put up three runs in the second inning.  They got the bases loaded on a single by Domonic Dymond, Blake Simon reached on an error and Davin Wendt walked.  Clint Finnen hit a ball sharply, but it was backhanded by the Wayne Trace first baseman, but no one initially covered first base and Finnen was safe and Dymond and Simon scored.  The pitcher then then tried to retire Wendt at second and threw the ball into the leftfield corner, allowing him to score.  All of this with two outs.

          Edison added a couple more in the third.  Marcus Medina doubled in Bryson Wittmer and Max Hoover singled home Medina.

          Coach Sean Hoover was happy with the good start.  “We got three runs in the second inning.  I believe it was a two out base hit that scored a couple and then a throwing error on the same play kind of give us a little cushion there for Ben (Bates).  We scored a couple more of the next inning and played good defense behind Ben the whole day and just all around good team effort,” said Hoover.

          Almost no one in North Central Ohio has the kind of tournament success that Edison has enjoyed recently.

          Hoover says getting some early runs relieves the pressure.   “I think in the tournament game it's you know definitely important to get the early lead.  Obviously, it's nice for us in early big lead like it was for us (Thursday).  We obviously got some pretty good guys on the mound in these tournament games.  So, if you can get a two, three, four run lead you feel confident early that your team will be able to hold on,” he said.

          Edison banged out 11 hits on the day and Hoover said their goal down and hard.  “I think we just kept our same approach we're trying to stay within the baseball as much as we could.  We want to put the ball on the ground a lot and try to force Wayne Trace to field the ball.  We've heard that they had some defensive issues early in the year,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Thursday night, “We just wanted to make sure that you know the outs we were making weren't easy outs, so they were going to have to make plays.  Catch and throw the ball across the infield versus maybe big swings and strikeouts and then easy flyballs.  So, we did a good job of taking that approach and hit some balls down and hard early and we're able to get some runs.”

          Bates was again outstanding.  Wayne Trace got only five hits on the day.

          Hoover says he was in command.  “I mean he was on all day.  He was really kind of on that low outside corner.  He had that down.  He mixed in his off speed kind of the second time through the lineup.  He really did a good job at holding their batters at bay,” he said.

          Hoover says they are familiar with Ottawa Hills.  He says the Green Bears are going to try and put the ball in play and be aggressive if they get on base.  “Well, they're obviously a good team being here in regional finals.  They're aggressive on the bases.  They're actually the same team we played in the regional finals last year, so we have a rematch here.  Some of the players are the same, but they did graduate a bunch of seniors too, like we did.  So, some new faces, some familiar faces.  They're going to come out and put the ball in play and force us to play defense.  If they get guys on they're going to put some pressure on us defensively to make the plays and of the runners close.  They're going to throw their lefty Stevens and so we're going to have to be definitely ready to go and put some balls in play at them and see what happens,” said Hoover.

Published 6/02/23

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Edison Looks to Defend District Title

          Edison will have a chance to repeat as division III district titlist after blanking Crestview (7-0) in a semifinal played at Shelby High School on Thursday afternoon.

          Edison won the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference this year and they will meet fellow Bay Division member Oak Harbor in Saturday’s district final.  The Rockets belted Wynford (9-0) in the other semifinal.

          Ben Bates, again was outstanding on the mound for the Chargers on Thursday.  Hoover says he was able to keep Crestview off balance.  “Ben threw a great game (Thursday).  Crestview has got a strong lineup and he really did a good job keeping them off balance.  I can really think of a couple hard balls that they hit.  He didn't strike out a ton.  In seven innings he had seven strikeouts, but I think the best thing is he threw a lot of strikes, kept his pitch count down, and we played some pretty good defense behind him,” said Hoover.

          Hoover says defense is something you have to plays to win tournament baseball games.  “Runs are usually the premium in tournament game situations, so you don't want to let extra guys on base, you definitely don't want extra guys come around to score because those runs can be tough to come by offensively.  So, people that play good defense behind your pitchers is definitely a big plus,” he said.

          Plus, the Chargers scored seven runs.

          Hoover says it started early with a triple from Marcus Medina.  “I think all seven came with two outs, so we did a good job of some situational hitting there and just hitting some balls hard.  We had a triple in the first inning with two guys on and that gave us the lead.  Clint (Finnen) had a big three run homer there in I think the fourth inning and kind of give us a cushion to put us up (6-0).  Oak Harbor put up nine runs in the second game, so their swinging the bats really well and they're going to be a tough, tough opponent on Saturday,” said Hoover.

          The Chargers and Rockets spit during the regular season and Hoover says they have to play with confidence.  “They have been hitting the ball very, very well lately.  We spilt with them during the season.  They got us the first time by a run and we went over to their place and we were able to pull off, I think, an 8-6 victory.  So, they're tough, they're going to come out they're playing loose and relaxed and having fun and that's a big part of the game too is just coming in and playing with confidence, so I expect a good battle,” he said.

Published 5/26/23

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Edison Edges Huron in Nine

          Marcus Medina lined an RBI single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give the Edison Chargers a (3-2) win over Huron in play in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Monday evening.

          The win keeps the Chargers (11-2,5-2) in first place in the division and in position to defend their title.

          With one out in the bottom of ninth, Carson Smith was called out at first, but the call was overturned upon appeal by the home plate umpire, who said the first baseman had pulled his foot.  That was followed by Hayden Frey reaching on an error and an intentional walk to Bryson Wittmer.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they did enough to get the win.  “We had a 2-1 lead late in the game they were able to get a run across in the sixth inning tie it up. We left all the guys on base early in the game and we really probably had a lot of chances to put some cushion between us early and we didn't get that done, but our guys kept battling, kept battling, I mean in the end we did enough to get the win,” he said.

          Again, Ben Bates was tremendous in picking up his fourth win of the season.  He struck out 10, yet at the same time, according to Hoover, was efficient.  “It was probably his best outing of the year.  He didn’t allow a lot of extra base runners.  He pounded the strike zone all night long. He got us through all nine, which means he kept his pitch count down early, which is something we had talked to him about,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win, “Trying to get through the first couple innings quicker.  Maybe switching his warm up routine a little bit.  Getting in the zone earlier and not be so high on this pitch count at the end of the game.  It ended up being a tie game, so we needed those extra pitches for him to be able pitch the eighth and ninth.”

          Hoover says he really didn’t consider taking Bates out of the game.  “He was throwing well and he spread his pitches out better than he has.  He didn't have like a big, high pitch, inning late in the game or something that might make me think about taking him out.  He's throwing well.  His total wasn't any higher than he had been in his last couple outings.  I was going to let him go.  The ninth inning was going to be his last one.  That didn't really cross my mind.  He was throwing well, he's keeping them off balance.  He did a great job to keep us in the game until the offense could scratch across that last run,” said Hoover.

          Edison also won big games last week against Margaretta and Oak Harbor.  The Rockets beat the Polar Bears (2-1) on Monday.

          Hoover says they have been playing well, but there is sill a lot of getting better to do.  “We have got some big league wins here lately after putting ourselves in a hole, a pretty big hole, being down two games after the first two games of the league season.  We've started doing some things better.  We still got a pretty good amount to work on to get to where we want to be.  Still giving too many extra free base runners to guys and stuff, but we've been able to win while still having a lot of things that we want to keep working on and cleaning up.  So, that's a good sign if we get those cleaned up, we can keep things rolling,” said Hoover.

Published 4/25/23

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Edison Holds off Margaretta

          Edison earned a big road win on Tuesday night as they went to Margaretta and beat the Polar Bears (6-4) in a game in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They trail Oak Harbor by one and they play the Rockets on Wednesday in a key game.

          Edison (9-3,3-2) scored in the top of the first on an error, a hit and sacrifice fly and the Bears tied it in their half when they scored on wild pitch.  Edison added an unearned run in the second, two more in the fifth, before Max Hoover drove in a run with a single to make it (5-1) Chargers.  However, Margaretta’s Austin Dillery hammered to three double to make it (5-4) after five.  The Chargers added a run in the seventh on an RBI hit by Dominic Dymond.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they were fundamental with the bats and forced Margaretta (6-6,3-2) to make plays in defense.  “They are always a tough team to play.  They're fundamentally sound and they put a lot of pressure on your defense,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Tuesday, “We did a nice job of just putting some balls hard in play and making them make some plays on their end.  We were able to score enough runs to come out on top.”

          The Bears made seven errors.

          Hoover says they did a good job responding after the double by Dillery tightened the game.  “We were at 5-1 and they hit a bases loaded double to get it back to within one.  Our guys did a nice stop responding to get that run back in the seventh inning and give us a two run cushion.  Then Ben (Bates) went out and did his job those last couple innings on the mound,” said Hoover.

          Bates had 11 strikeouts on the day.

          Hoover says he was aggressive and was more of a power pitcher on Tuesday.  “He just kept pounding the zone and did his thing and he stuck with a lot more fastballs (Tuesday) than maybe is his norm, but he was really dialed in and did well for us,” he said.

Published 4/19/23

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Edison Gets Past Willard

          Ben Bates fired a two hitter and struck out 13 as Edison beat Willard (6-2) on Monday evening to stay in contact in the race in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          The Chargers were Bay Division champs last year.

          After falling behind (2-0) after, Edison would score in four of the next five innings to take control.

          Coach Sean Hoover says Willard is an improved team and they were very happy with the win.  “They are playing better this year.  They have kind of been coming along and getting a little better each year here lately, so yeah it was good to go to Willard and take care of business,” said Hoover.

          Clint Finnen had three of the Chargers 12 hits on the day.

          It appears the Bay Division is going to be very competitive this season and Hoover says you must get every win when you have a chance.  “Everybody comes in and plays hard and does the little things right in games.  So, you have got to be on your top game and when you're not really anybody can sneak up and get a win, so you have got to take care of business,” he said.

          Hoover says there are a lot of things the Chargers (6-3,1-2) can improve as they chase division leading Margaretta.  “I think a couple of main things.  Number one, at the plate, we need to be a little more disciplined.  I think we've let a lot of good, hittable pitches go by and we kind of swing at a lot of pitches we probably can't hit very hard.  Our plate discipline has been better the last three games, so that's definitely something that we've improved on here lately,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win, “Another thing is, we have a strong pitching staff, but we've let a lot of free guys on base and those free guys on base led to a couple losses for us.  So, we’ve got to do a better job of making the other teams line up really earn their way on base.  We haven't really given up a lot of hits this year.  The other teams batting average against us is pretty low for our nine games I guess it is now, but we've let a lot of free guys on base and we just have got to do a better job making the other team earn their base runners.”

Published 4/11/23

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Edison Ready to Get Started

          Edison, the state runner-up in division III last year is going through their final preparations for this season, which begins next week.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they have been making good strides, but they still have a lot of getting better to do.  “We've seen a little bits of improvement here and there.  It's always good to get out and see things.  I don't think things are anywhere close to where we want them to be or think they should be necessarily.  We have made some good strides at the plate.  Pitchers find out the importance quickly of throwing strikes and how big it is to not let free runners on.  So, yeah it was a good first couple weeks,” he said.

          Edison is scheduled to start the season on Monday at home against New London.

          Hoover says the kids really are ready to get going.  “Everybody tired of being inside the first couple weeks of the season.  February probably spoiled us a little bit.  We really haven't been outside too much since then.  We were able to get I guess two and half of our scrimmages in.  There are only so many things you can do inside.  You try to change it up and find different things to do and keep them interested, but they're ready to get outside and go,” said Hoover.

          Edison has been the best baseball team in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division over the years.  They won it last year.  If they don’t win it, they are in the race.  Their first division game this year is at home against Oak Harbor on April 3.

          Hoover thinks the division is going to be really competitive this year.  “I think the Bay is going to be pretty tough. Margaretta has a ton of kids back from a 20 win team last year.  Oak Harbor had a very good young core last year, so they have that back,” he told Swankonspors.com on Thursday evening, “Willard has three good young pictures.  So, if pitchers are going to throw well and they can shut an offense down, any team can now have a chance to win on those kind of days.  Huron gave us our league loss last year and they're always strong and they'll be very good again there too.  Port Clinton has a new head coach.  So, top to bottom the six teams in the Bay conference are pretty strong.”

Published 3/24/22

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Clear Fork Breaks Long Losing Streak; Beats Edison

          Clear Fork broke a 27 game losing streak on Monday night when they downed Edison (54-37) in a non-conference basketball game at Les Hauenstein Gym.

          The Colts took the lead (12-10) with :19 left in the first quarter on a basket by Mason Pipes and they never trailed again.

          Leading (21-18) to start the second half, the Colts went on (8-0) run over the first 3:37 of the third quarter, fueled by two three pointers by Victor Skoog and Garrett Hotz, a 6’3” sophomore.  By the end of three Clear Fork held (38-24) advantage, outscoring the Chargers (17-6) in the quarter.

          The lead grew to as many as 22 with 3:08 to play in the game after hoop by Hotz.

          Clear Fork coach Tim Brafford says it the second half they played more free and easy than they have all season.  “I think we are just playing too tense, we have the last three games.  It has been a long time since they have won a game.  February 19, 2021, I think,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We came in (Monday) night 0-27 and they were just tense, but the second half we did get going.  We got out and ran and took advantage of some situations and were able to get the win.”

          It seemed that Edison took a lot of off balance shots and not many of them went in for the Chargers (1-2) on Monday night.

          Edison coach Kyle Hammond says they couldn’t find the range.  “We never really got a rhythm.  We really struggled to shoot the ball (Monday) night.  It was the tail of two halves.  I thought the first half was a good game and the second half they really imposed their will and got a lot of offensive rebounds and easy shots.  We struggled to make some shots,” said Hammond.

          Edison guard Jack Brown led all scorers with 20 points, 15 the second half.

          Clear Fork was the more physical team and Brafford says they were able to get some key offensive rebounds.  “We did crash the boards.  That is one thing we concentrate on is getting on the boards and trying to get those easy buckets.  We have done a great job at it.  I couldn’t be more proud of them,” he said.

          Hammond says when they were behind in the second half they had to gamble by pressing some more and it was not effective for them.  “We tried to change the momentum by getting some easies, baskets off of pressure, but they handled the ball well and they got some easy looks,” he said.

          Hotz led Clear Fork (1-2) with 17 makers.  Grant Spencer added 15 for the Colts.

          With two games this week in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play, Brafford hopes they can a winning streak going.  “We play Galion Thursday, so there is a possibility we could pick another one up there and then Ontario on Saturday.  So, it could be it could be a good run this week.  I think they are playing well right now, we just had to come out and play,” said Brafford.

Published 12/06/22

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Edison to Play for State Title After Another Extra Inning Win

          Edison is a baseball team that plays with incredible intensity and yet patience and that played out again Thursday night as the Chargers outlasted Roger Bacon (3-0) in eight innings to a division III state semifinal played at Canal Park in Akron.

          They have win three extra inning game in tournament over the last two years.

          They return to the Rubber City on Saturday to face Waynedale of the Wayne County Athletic League for a state title.  The Golden Bears beat Liberty Union and likely major league draftee Jacob Miller (5-3) in Thursday’s other semifinal.

          Coach Sean Hoover says his team found a way to overcome.  “It was just back and forth with zeros on the board for seven innings.  You can get frustrated with loss opportunities throughout the game, but our guys didn’t do that.  I know we went out and did the right things on the mound and defensive wise to hold them to the same zeros and we were finally able to break through in the eighth inning,” said Hoover.

          Lefty Thomas Simon went the first seven inning and Hoover says he battled and was able to get out of some jams and keep Roger Bacon off the scoreboard.  “He was awesome.  He made a lot of big pitches, especially with guys in scoring position for them.  A lot of big “K’s” in those situations,” he said.

          With the game still scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Roger Bacon tried to score a sac fly, but centerfielder Bryce Michaelis gunned they down at the plate and it wouldn’t be they last big play he would make.  “It was a shallow fly ball to center and they tested his arm and he threw a laser right to the plate.  That was a big out of us to end the inning,” said Hoover.

          It was still all zeros through seven until Edison finally broke through to get on the board with a clutch hit from Michaelis.  Hoover says that relieved a little of the tension for them.  “We got a leadoff single by Haden Fry and Noah Smith laid down a nice bunt and their pitcher kind of bobbled it and that gave us two guys on.  We bunted again to get them both into scoring position.  Bryce Michaelis came up with a big hit by third base to kind of break the ice,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Xander Danner hit a hard ball that third basemen made a great play on, but threw it kind of quicky to home.  He had a little more time that he thought he did.  It was a high school kid making a great play, but it was a little wide at home and we were able score two runs on that throw.”

          Ben Bates got the save for the Chargers by working a scoreless eighth.

          As for Waynedale, Hoover believes his team is going to have to score some runs to take the trophy home.  “I have not had a lot of time to look into them.  They played really will (Thursday), they hit up and down the order.  I think we are going to see a lefty on Saturday.  Their number two is a lefty.  The kid that came in pitched at the end of the day (Thursday).  They hit the best pitcher in the State of Ohio.  We are going to have to be ready to go and have our hitting shoes on I have a feeling,” said Hoover.

Published 6/10/22

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Edison Downs Fredericktown in Extra Innings

          With aid of a balk and an error, Edison scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning and they rallied to beat Fredericktown (5-4) in a division III regional semifinal on Thursday evening at Elida Middle School.

          The Chargers return on Friday to face Ottawa Hills for a regional title.  The Green Bears beat Pemberville Eastwood (5-1) in Thursday’s first semifinal.

          Fredericktown, the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference champ, scored three times in the first inning off Edison ace Thomas Simon.  With one out Kaid Carpenter singled.  Then with two outs Jackson Doup singled and Luke Bean drove home the first run with a hit.  Xavier Mullins walked and Braden Sapp followed with a two run single.

          Edison, the “SBC” Bay Division winner, got two in the bottom of the fourth when with two out, Dominic Dymond reached on an error, Hayden Fry and Noah Smith walked, and Brady Barker got an RBI hit driving in Dymond and Fry scored when the ball was thrown away by the Freddy infield.

          However, Fredericktown responded to make it (4-2) in the top of the fifth when Brady Lester doubled inside the bag at first and scored on Carpenter’s sacrifice fly.

          Edison tied it in their half of the fifth when Xander Danner reached on an error, Thomas Simon singled and Dymond singled him home.  They tied it on an error by the third baseman, scoring Simon.

          Simon was replaced by Ben Bates after seven and likewise Carpenter, the Fredericktown starter, was replaced by Ben Mast after seven.

          In the bottom of the eighth, Barker got a one out single.  He got to second when Blake Simon chopped one in front of the plate and was thrown out at first by Mast.  He was then balked to third and scored when the Freddies were unable to handle an infield roller hit by Bryce Michaelis.

          Edison coach Sean Hoover says they got behind early, but they kept plugging away and eventually made the plays they had to make.  “We have been down early before, so we did a good job of chipping away.  We were able to hit balls hard enough, I guess.  They helped us out with a few errors there to extend some innings.  I told the guys we don’t necessarily have to hit ball hard, we just have to make them make plays,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Make a little contact and see what happens.  Blake got Brady up to second.  He didn’t hit it 40 feet, but he made them make a play.  He got a guy in scoring position.  When you just need one hit to win the game that is a big at bat to move him over there.”

          Fredericktown made five errors in all, all of Edison’s runs were unearned, and coach Ryan Hathaway says you can’t do that in the regional tournament.  “We just didn’t make enough plays defensively.  We gave them too many opportunities.  They scored probably all of their runs with two outs if I had to look back on it now.  We fought the whole game and tried to stick with them.  We just couldn’t get one across in the late innings,” he said.

          Carpenter was dominate early in the game, retiring the first 11 batters. Hoover says they tried to get him out of his rhythm.  “He went nine up and nine down and then we loaded them up in the fourth and he started to tire a little bit.  We made him throw from the stretch and feel a little pressure.  He was just free and easy.  He was working slow, he was working quick, he was trying to quick pitch.  He was doing a good job of messing up our timing early.  I think later we called timeout in the box a little more to make sure we were ready making sure our hitters were in there and not getting quick pitched.  We kept the pressure on.  We were able to get it tied and pull it out,” said Hoover.

          Hathaway says Edison got some clutch hits.  “After they saw Carpenter a couple of times around it seemed like they started to figure him out a little bit.  We let them on there with two outs multiple times.  You give any team life when you are at this point in the tournament, they are going to capitalize on it, they are a good team,” he said.

           A big key, according to Hoover, was laying off Carpenter’s curveball.  “I think we swung at too many curveballs in those first two innings.  We have tried to work on not swinging at those too early in the count.  We didn’t do a great job of that the first three innings.  He really wasn’t throwing any curveballs over for strikes.  The only strike he threw over the plate to the first three innings was a called strike three on the seven hitter, that was the only curve he threw over the plate.  He bounced every other one on the dirt.  So, we were a little more patient.  We went back to stuff we worked on early in the year bringing us fastballs so we can barrel them up and we did a better job of getting some guys on base,” said Hoover.

          When it comes to Ottawa Hills on Friday, Hoover says they are what you would expect at this level and they will have to play well.  “They are obviously a very good team.  I don’t really know a lot about them.  I watched hit the ball really well against Eastwood.  They pitched well, they played good defense.  They are what you expect in a regional finals opponent.  We will have to come out and battle and be ready to go,” he said.

Published 6/03/22

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Big Inning Gives Edison Win

          Edison scored seven of their eight runs in one inning on Thursday afternoon as they downed Wynford (8-6) in a division III district semifinal played at Norwalk High School.

          The Chargers (20-8) will play Margaretta (20-7) for a district title Saturday afternoon at Norwalk.  The Polar Bears (20-7) beat Genoa (3-1) on Thursday.

          Wynford (20-6), the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, led (3-1) going to the bottom half of the sixth inning and that is when Edison got busy.

          Haden Fry tripled to start the inning and Noah Smith doubled him home.  Then Brady Barker tied the game (3-3) with an RBI triple.  After a Max Hoover infield single, Bryce Michaels gave Edison the lead (4-3) an RBI double.  It became (5-3) on Xavier Donner sacrifice fly.  Three more runs scored on an error, a Clint Finnen BRI single and a wild pitch.  It was (8-3) Edison going to the seventh.

          Edison coach Sean Hoover says the hits became contagious.  “We hit some balls hard early in the game and didn’t have a whole lot to show for it.  Wynford made a couple of nice defensive plays and we smoked a couple of balls right at them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “In the sixth inning we were able to drive some balls out over their heads.  We started the inning with a triple, a double, and another triple and it just snowballed from there.”

          Wynford battled back too to score three times in the seventh, but Hoover says they were able to survive.  “It was a little nerve raking there at the end.  That is kind why we preach to our guys that you can never have enough runs, just keep going and pushing.  No lead is ever safe.  Wynford fought to the very end like we expected they would, but we were able to pull it out,” he said.

          Edison has beaten Margaretta twice this season (7-0) on the road May 5 and (7-4) at home May 12.

          Hoover says they know each other well.  “We have played them six times in the last two years, the seventh time on Saturday.  The kids are familiar with each other and the coaches as well.  It is good to have an all “SBC” district final.  We are expecting a tough game,” he said.

          Hoover adds it is going to boil down to execution, which is mostly the case in district finals.  “We both have a general idea of what each team is trying to accomplish out there offensively and defensively.  You have to be able to make the plays when they are there to be made.  Errors will always come up and bite you in any game.  I think it is going to come down to execution on Saturday,” he said.

Published 5/27/22

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Edison Now Outright Champs

          Edison beat Margaretta (7-4) for the second time in a week Thursday evening and the Chargers are now outright champs of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          Actually, that took place on Wednesday when Margaretta lost to Oak Harbor, but Edison coach Sean Hoover says they wanted to take care of their own business.  “We talked to the guys about not wanting to win the title through the back door by losing the game (Thursday) night and still have the title because of their loss.  We came out and fell down early in the game, but we were able to come back and get the win,” he said.

          Margaretta took a (4-2) lead with three runs in the third inning, but the Chargers put up a four spot in the fourth to take command. 

          Hoover says its important to respond quickly.  “The longer you stay down in a game I think the harder it is mentally to make the comeback a lot of times.  We did a nice job of coming right back, it was only an inning of so that they had the lead.  We had a couple of guys start the inning with a couple of hits.  We were able to string some more hits together and put up a four run inning of our own.  Then Thomas (Simon) and our defense shut them down the rest of the way,” said Hoover.

          Simon had eight strikeouts in the complete game win.

          Edison (15-8,9-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, is the second seed in next week’s district tournament in division III, but Hoover says you have always go to be ready to play.  “We have been playing fairly well.  I think we have hit the ball well especially the last three games, so the bats are starting to get hot at the right time.  Defensively, we have been pretty good, there was a play or two out there (Thursday) night.  They have been good all season long,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “So, it looks like things are starting to come together for us.  You have to make sure you go play every game and play every game hard.  You never know in baseball what is going to happen, it is one of those funny games.  You have to show up every night ready to play.”

Published 5/13/22

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Edison Claims Piece of Bay Division

          Edison can do no less than share the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title after blanking Margaretta (7-0) on a rainy Thursday evening in a game played in Milan.

          Both Margaretta and Huron are game back in the loss column and the Chargers have only one division game left to play.

          Veteran coach Sean Hoover says getting this title feels especially good after coming so close the last couple pf years.  “It definitely does make you feel good.  The kids have worked really hard.  We have been pretty close the last few years.  We have finished second to Huron last year and Vermilion a couple of years before that.  So, it is nice to see our hard work pay off and clinch at least a share,” he said.

          In a big game like this there is no surprise the Chargers (13-7,8-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, would turn the ball over to Thomas Simon and Hoover says he was tremendous.  “Thomas (Simon) threw really well again.  Just five innings with the rain shorten game.  He struck out 10 in five innings, only gave up two hits, really shut their bats down.  A day when it is wet and rainy and the ball is wet and hard for guys to field it is big to have a guy that can strike a lot of players out and make it so you don’t have to field so many balls in bad conditions,” said Hoover.

          Simon (4-1,1.58 ERA) leads the Bay Division in innings pitched (35.33) and strikeouts (59) this season.

          Hoover says he changes speeds and arm angles and can throw three pitches for strikes.  “He can throw three pitches well.  A good curve ball, a really good change up.  It makes him look like he throws harder than a gun might show that he throws.  He throws a lot of balls by guys.  He has different arm slots.  He drops down three quarters on that left side,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “It makes it harder for the batter to pick up the ball.  Between that and being able to mix his pitches very well those are his keys to shutting down the other team.”

Published 5/06/22

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Edison Downs Oak Harbor

          Edison played its first Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game of the season on Thursday and they won at Oak Harbor (5-2) over the Rockets.

          Lefty Thomas Simon went the first six, allowing no runs on four hits while striking out 11.

          Coach Sean Hoover says it was a solid win.  “We played a good game.  We got a good lead part way through the game.  Thomas (Simon) threw very well for us again.  We got a couple of insurance runs there in the fifth inning and were able to hold on,” he said.

          Edison (5-2,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, had nine hits on the day.

          The Chargers have played only three times in the last 10 days.

          Hoover says it has been a struggle, but the players have done a good job of counting to be ready to play.  “It has definitely been a struggle getting games in.  A couple of the nice days we didn’t have anything scheduled and couldn’t get anything picked up on those days.  You are used to it.  I think this has been worse than other years.  We had cancelled every other league game so far and rescheduled them for other times.  We went to Port Clinton (Wednesday) and came back without playing.  We are going to play them on Saturday.  It makes it tough.  Your are trying to find innings for your pitchers and get them in rhythm.  You want to get bats for your hitters and get them in a rhythm.  We only played twice last week and we had to play Saturday in the snow to get the second game in.  (Thursday) night was our first game this week,” said Hoover.

          Edison is scheduled to host Vermilion on Friday night in a cross over game in the “SBC.”

          Hoover says pushing games back to later in the season, obviously, has its drawbacks.  “You are saving your ones and twos for your league games, so you can win your league.  You are kind of pushing them back to make sure they can throw those league games.  When they get pushed back all of the sudden your better guys aren’t throwing as much as they normally would at this time of the year and then you are going to hit a logjam of five games in six days, which makes it tougher because your other pitchers don’t get a lot of work either because of the rain,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It is a situation where you have to throw in the bullpen live and lucky we have our fieldhouse for that.  We try and do the best we can with those guys, so their arms are ready.  There is no substitute for game innings, but we try and make the most we can out of our situation.  Hopefully, when we are at that stretch when we are playing five or six games in seven or eight days we are ready to go.”

Published 4/15/22

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Edison Hammers Seneca East

          Edison starter Thomas Simon allowed only one hit and the Chargers smoked Seneca East (13-0) in five innings in a non-conference baseball game on Wednesday evening outside of Attica.

          Dominic Dymind was the offensive star for the Chargers with a homer, a double and three RBI.  Simon helped himself with a couple of hits and two RBI.  Bradley Barker and Hyden Fry both doubled for Edison.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they got a lot of a players on the field and it was a solid opener for them.  “You really couldn’t ask for a better start to the season.  We got a lot of players in, got them some at bats and get rid of some of those first game jitters.  We played well defensively and Thomas (Simon) pitched very well too,” said Hoover.

          Simon struck out eight on the day.

          Hoover says he had good control.  “He threw a lot of strikes and we played really good defense behind him too.  We made a couple of nice plays.  We turned a double play.  So, it was a good start,” he said.

          Defense has always been important in high school baseball, but Hoover says never more than now with the restrictions put in place by the OHSAA a few years back.  “Especially now with pitch counts versus so many innings over three days like we used to do.  If you can play good defense and limit the errors your pitchers can go deeper in games.  It might stop you from using an extra pitcher in a day and depending on his pitch count a guy might be able to come back maybe a day or two earlier than he would have,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “So, defense has always been important, but now with pitch counts and everything too being able to play good defense and not making your pitchers throw extra pitches is really important to being really successful.”

Published 3/31/22

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Edison Edges Colonel Crawford in Extra Innings

          Edison scored twice in the top of the eighth inning then retired Colonel Crawford with bases loaded in the bottom half to come away with a (6-5) win in the division III district final played on Saturday afternoon in Shelby.

          The Chargers got a back to back hits from Blake Simon and Clint Finnen off Crawford starter Cade Hamilton to start the eighth inning.  Brennen Hamilton then replaced his older brother on the mound and he failed to make the play on a bunt attempt by Xander Danner and threw down the rightfield line, allowing Blake Simon to score the go ahead run.  Thomas Simon followed with an RBI single to make it (6-4) Edison.

          In the bottom of the eighth, the Eagles (25-3), got a leadoff walk from Mason McKibben and single by Brock Ritzhaupt, but Edison reliver Joey Pannell got Cyler Hoepf on a force out and struck out Miccah Thomas.  He then walked Nolan McKibben and Cade Hamilton to force in a run and make it (6-5) with the bases still loaded.  However, for the second game in a row, Pannell got the biggest out of the game when he induced a ground ball to shortstop from Carson Feichtner.

          Edison coach Sean Hoover says his team kept battling.  “We got down early 3-0 and we just came in an we fought hard.  I don’t know if it was some of the other action in that inning that made them refocus.  They really seemed to be focused and we got one back.  We just kind of chipped away and we had a lot of good at bats.  You want your team to come out and realize that this is a game between really good teams and things are going to go back and forth all of the time,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “If you keep battling, I have been in enough of these, that strange things happen sometimes.  You don’t want to get too high or too low.  We did a great job of coming out and getting the job done.”

          Colonel Crawford scored three times in the third inning on a double by Thomas, and RBI single by Nolan McKibben, who then scored on error.  Then Finnen tried to throw Cade Hamilton out at the plate on a slow chop by Feichtner rather than making an easier throw to first to retire the side and Hamilton was called safe.

          Edison got one back in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Luke Bissell.  They tied the game (3-3) in the sixth when Danner and Thomas Simon reached on errors and Noah Smith connected on a two run single.

          Edison took a (4-3) lead in the sixth on a hit by Blake Simon, a passed ball, a balk and a RBI single by Finnen.  Crawford would tie in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Brennan Hamilton, a sacrifice by Mason McKibben and a RBI single by Hoepf.

          The Eagles loaded them in the bottom of the seventh with nobody out and failed to score when Drayton Burkhart and Brennan Hamilton strut out and a runner was retired in a rundown between third and home on a failed suicide squeeze.

          Hoover says they were able to escape a couple of times.  “We got out of a couple of jams and I not really sure how we got out of them.  We managed to keep them off the board a couple of times with guys on base and not many outs on the board.  Maybe with the bases loaded and nobody out (in the seventh).  That was big and we kind of carried the momentum into the next inning.  We got a bloop and an even shorter bloop and strung a couple of hits together and got some guys in,” said Hoover.

          Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett identified the bases loaded and not out situation in the seventh when they didn’t score as a key.  “That’s when we loaded the bases and couldn’t score.  It just seemed like couldn’t get that big hit, ground out or sac fly.  They were able to get a couple of hits that just fell in.  They are all hits, I’m not berating them for that.  They seemed to get the bat on the ball and get the runs in and we couldn’t do that.  We had opportunities,” said Gorbett.

          Thomas also tagged out at home to end the fifth in what appeared to be a steal attempt.

          The Eagles also made four errors, three of them at key moments and Gorbett says you can’t do that in district finals and expect to win.  “Our defense was horrible (Saturday).  We have talked about at tournament time you have to play good defense.  They were bad errors.  They are routine plays that we were making errors on.  If you want to win a championship, you just can’t do that,” he said.

          Thomas Simon has been Edison’s ace all season, but he was not available after throwing 125 pitches in beating Margaretta (3-1) in Thursday’s semifinal.

          Hoover says Blake Simon and Pennell did an outstanding job.  “Blake (Simon) did a great job out there and Joe Pennell came in and did an awesome job at the end in closing the game out.  Maybe not as quick as he closed the game out on Thursday.  He was a little more nervous this time.  We have all of those young guys that we have had to depend on.  Thomas (Simon) obviously doesn’t throw every single day.  They have been put in some big spots in other games already this year.  I think that helped them keep their composure and throw pitches when they needed to,” said Hoover.

          Crawford left nine runners in scoring position in the game.  Gorbett says the didn’t get the key hits and Edison did.  “It’s a good program and they battled and won.  We had the bases loaded and no outs and don’t score and they do the same thing and get a couple in.  They made it happen and we didn’t,” he said.

Published 5/29/21

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Edison Holds Off Margaretta

          Edison shut down a possible Margaretta rally in the seventh inning and beat the Polar Bears (3-1) in a division III district semifinal on Thursday evening at Shelby High School.

          They face Colonel Crawford, a (4-2) winner over Genoa in Thursday’s first semi, on Saturday afternoon for a ticket to the regional tournament.

          Lefty Thomas Simon had went the first six and two thirds innings, striking out eight Bears in the process and allowing only an unearned run, but he had reached the pitch limit.

          Coach Sean Hoover says reliever Joy Pennell was up to the task of striking out Margaretta’s Kellen Moore on three pitches.  “There really wasn’t much of a choice as we had Thomas (Simon) at 125 pitches.  You have to pull him at 125.  They said they had him at 122 and he maybe could have thrown to another batter.  I didn’t want to risk it, they were trusting us to keep the book.  We had him at 125 and I was going to go out there and let Joe come in and he did his job.  He has been prepping all year coming in big spots and he came through,” said Hoover.

          It wasn’t the first time this year Pennell was given the task and Hoover says mentally he was ready to go.  “I went down and talked to him before the inning started to make sure he had the right mind set because I figured unless it was a quick inning we were going to have to go to him.  He said, I’m ready and he went out there and did a really good job.  That has kind of been his role this year is to come in and get those last couple of outs.  He takes it really serious.  He was focused and threw three great pitches,” said Hoover.

          Simon was his usual self on Thursday.  Hoover says he permits some baserunners, but then shuts them down.  “He is obviously our horse.  He always keeps us in games.  They get guys on base and he is good enough to keep them where they are and not let little rallies turn into big rallies.  We have confidence in him, but we have a lot of good young pitchers too.  We hope some of them show up on Saturday,” he said.

          Simon is a strikeout pitcher and it likely to throw more pitches than some.  Hoover says Margaretta did a good job taking him deep in counts.  “I think sometimes when you strikeout as many guys as he does your pitch count goes up where if you have a guy that doesn’t strikeout as many, he is more of a pitch to contact guy, he doesn’t have those high pitch count numbers.  He throws balls by guys and Margaretta did a good job of fouling them off,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They did a good job of battling and fouling balls off.  I could tell that was their plan.  That been their approach all year with Thomas.  They did a good job of really fighting off pitches.”

          Edison took a (2-0) in the bottom of the second on a two out, two run, single by ninth place hitter Blake Simon.  Hoover says the pressure of a district game did not overwhelm the freshman.  “It was big for Blake to step up there for a freshman to get that hit and score a couple of runs.  We have a lot of god young players here that have played a lot of situation baseball, so when they get up there they know how to handle themselves in those situations.  Did a great job of getting the barrel on it and we were able to score a couple,” said Hoover.

          Margaretta cut it to (2-1) in the fourth when Moore scored on an error.  Edison got it right back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Luke Bissell.

          Margaretta coach Ray Neil says his kids did everything he asked them to do and more.  “I don’t if this makes sense, but I might be prouder of my team, the losing team, than that coach is of the winning team.  My kids competed all day.  That is a kid that shoved it up our butt two times earlier in the year and we talked about a challenge all week.  It’s a game of inches.  The inning they scored the two runs.  The first batter that inning, the ground ball to the shortstop, that took a bad hop.  I told my freshman shortstop, that took a bad hop, that’s not on you.  They got a big, two out base hit in that inning.  We had a couple of chances to match that and it didn’t happen.  It wasn’t because my kids didn’t battle or give me good at bats.  Those first two batters in the seventh inning, how about them at bats?  Against one of the top pitchers in the area,” said Neil.

Published 5/28/21

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Edison Downs Margaretta

          Edison, who has one of the best pitching staffs in the area, got another solid performance on Wednesday evening and beat Margaretta (4-1) in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

          They are going to finish in second place in the division, a game behind Huron.

          With the tournament starting next week, coach Sean Hoover says they are playing some pretty good baseball.  “We had a good win (Tuesday) night against Bellevue over at Bellevue and a tough game (Wednesday) night with Margaretta, a team that always plays us tough,” he said.

          Edison (14-8,8-2) has a staff ERA of 3.35 and Hoover they had a couple of kids throw well again Wednesday night.  “Thomas Simon gave us five good innings again in starting.  He gave up one earned run and then Joe Pennel came in and threw a couple of solid innings of relief for us,” said Hoover.

          Simon is (7-1) with a 1.52 ERA this season, which is the second best in the Bay Division this year.

          Pennell, Hayden Fox, Keegan Smith all have more than 10 innings pitched this year and ERA’s under 4.00.

          Hoover says his pitchers have improved a bunch this year.  “We would have been a really young pitching staff last year, so for us to kind of watch these pitchers grow especially.  Thomas (Simon) had thrown a lot of innings his freshmen year for us and a couple of other guys had thrown a game or two, but for the most part our staff has been pretty inexperienced,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We have been really happy, especially with the growth with some of our juniors on our pitching staff.  We have had a couple of sophomores and even a couple of freshmen come up and throw well for us.  Guys are learning how to make adjustments at the plate and getting a little better against the better pitchers.  Our defense has started to play a little better at the end of the season here too.  Our guys have definitely shown some good improvements throughout the year.”

Published 5/13/21

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Edison Maintains First Place in Bay Division

          Thomas Simon allowed only three hits and struck out 11 as the Edison Chargers maintained a one game lead in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division with a (5-0) win over Oak Harbor on Monday evening.

          The Chargers lead Huron by a game in the division standings.  The Tigers beat Willard (15-1) on Monday in division play.

          Coach Sean Hoover says Simon really didn’t have command early in the game, but he battled.  “He had a great game.  He got up in the zone early and struggled a little bit and got his pitch count up, but battled through it and that is what good pitchers can do, they can battle though sometimes when they don’t have their best stuff until they start to find it,” he said.

          Simon stuck out the side in the seventh inning to put the game away.

          Hoover says he showed some mental toughness.  “Especially with young kids when they don’t have their best stuff sometimes mentally that doesn’t put them in a great place out there, so they have to learn how to not only get over the physical part of it and how can I still put the ball where if the other team hits it we can make outs and not just get frustrated because they don’t feel like they have command of all of their pitches,” said Hoover.

          Simon and Clint Finnen had RBI hits in the fifth for the Chargers (8-4,4-0) and they scored three in the second with the befit of only one hit.

          Hoover says it’s about finding a way.  “We did a good job of getting some guys on base in the second inning.  When you find ways to get them across the plate, you will take them whenever you can get them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We didn’t hit any balls in the gaps or clear bases with bases loaded.  A couple of guys were standing in the right place in the batter’s box to wear a couple of pitches.  You will take the lead anyway you can get it.”

Published 4/20/21

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Edison With Big Win over Huron

          Thomas Simon was tremendous on Monday evening as he allowed only one hit and struck out 13 batters and Edison beat Huron (3-2) in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game.

          Huron’s Joey Schade also went the distance too for the Tigers, allowing five hits and striking out seven in taking the tough luck loss.

          Chargers coach Sean Hoover says it was a huge win for them early.  “They have been playing really well here early in the season.  We knew it would be a tough one right out of the gate to start “SBC” play and we were able to come out and sneak out a win,” said Hoover.

          Luke Bissell game Edison a (1-0) lead in the bottom of the first and an RBI double.  Huron tied it (1-1) when Cody Mamere scored on a ground ball.  Edison got two in the fifth when Simon helped himself with an RBI single and scored on an error to make (3-1) Edison.  Thomas Cozzens doubled, the only hit off Simon, in the sixth and scored on a wild pitch.

          Hoover says it was the kind of game you would expect between two solid teams.  “It was a really well played game on both ends.  We had Thomas Simon out there with 13 strikeouts.  We played some pretty good defense being him.  We were able to do just enough offensively to win the game,” he said.

          Edison (3-2,1-0) plays Sandusky St. Mary’s in a crossover game on Tuesday.  They return to Bay Division play against Willard on Wednesday.  Huron (4-3,0-1) plays at Sandusky in a crossover on Tuesday.  They play host to Margaretta in Bay Division play on Wednesday.

          In other Bay Division action on Monday, Oak Harbor blanked Margaretta (10-0) and Port Clinton got past Willard (4-2).

          Hoover says winning these one run games can be a big factor in winning the division race.  “Being able to come out on top in some of those one run games in definitely a big key,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The good teams will be going back and forth, back and forth, throughout the season.  To be able to show a little resolve and win those close games will be a key for whoever comes out on top in the league.”

Published 4/06/21

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Edison Rallies Past Seneca East

          Edison scored three times in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth and they got past Seneca East (9-7) in a non-conference baseball game played in Milan on Tuesday afternoon.

          Luke Bissell had a two-run double in the fourth and Dominic Dymond a two-run double in the fifth for the Chargers.

          Coach Sean Hoover says they were a very resilient team on Tuesday.  “It’s always a battle against Seneca East.  They have a had a lot of good teams over the years.  They are well coached.  They always give you a solid effort every time they are out there.  We made a couple of nice comebacks.  We were ahead, let them come back and get ahead and we came out in the bottom of that inning and scored three to take the lead right back.  So, I was really happy to see the resiliency of our team,” said Hoover.

          Hayden Fox got the win on the mound for the Chargers.

          Hoover says they were always able to seize back the momentum in the game.  “Being able to answer back is good.  We got a quick lead at 2-0 the first inning and then I think they scored one in the third and we came back right back and scored one in the bottom of the third to keep that lead,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Then the same thing in the fourth inning, they got four, and we came back and got three right away to keep that lead.  We didn’t drop our heads, we didn’t pout because things didn’t go our way in the top half of the inning.  We came out and got our job done at the plate and scored some runs to keep our advantage.”

          Seneca East (0-2) lost (12-2) to Sandusky on Monday and coach Rick Bowerman says they were improved.  However, he says this is a game the Tigers should have won.  “We played a lot better than in our opener vs. Sandusky on (Monday), but we let one get away that I thought we should have won.  Two out errors in the fourth and fifth innings resulted in four unearned runs.  When you lose by two, those four unearned runs are backbreaking.  Our pitchers only walked one batter, but we left the ball up in the zone too often and Edison made us pay for doing that.  I got big contributions from two freshmen making their first varsity starts.  Aiden Hines and Caden Fritz each had two hits and played solid defense,” said Bowerman.

          It was very windy all over the area on Tuesday and Edison got through the game without an error.  Hoover says they were focused.  “The wind plays havoc with all kinds of balls.  We talked a lot about it before hand.  Even little things like throws to the cutoffs were blowing offline.  They were really trying to concentrate to make sure that they were always paying attention to what they wind was going to do when the ball was headed their way,” he said.

Published 3/31/21

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Edison Young, but With Potential

          Edison is looking to build a good baseball team this year and they certainly have the building blocks.

          Coach Sean Hoover says he and the Chargers are just excited to be back on the baseball field after what last season was all about.  “It is great to be out there.  The kids are having a blast to be able to get out there with the baseball season that they missed.  For an Ohio spring, knock on wood, the weather has been great,” he said.

          Hoover says they are going to have a lot of kids that don’t have a whole lot of varsity experience, but they do have some talent.  “I think we have the potential to be a good team.  We are pretty young, we would been pretty young last year also.   We would have had an entire pitching staff of freshmen and sophomores last year, so that kind of bumps up this year.  So, there are not a lot of kids with varsity experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I have a couple kids with a few innings and only two returners from a couple of years ago, but we are excited about the way the kids are working.  We will just have to get after it every day and get better and see what the future holds from there.”

          Edison is scheduled to open the season next Monday against New London.  Their first games in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference is April 5 against Huron.

          Judging on what he has seen so far, Hoover says they need to have a better approach at the plate.  “I think just our overall hitting approach in general.  It got a little better (Monday) night in a scrimmage that we had against Western Reserve.  We felt we left a lot of hittable pitches go bye in our first scrimmage.  I think a lot of it is getting used to the adjustment from JV pitching when they were freshmen to the jump to the varsity pitching now,” said Hoover.

3/23/21

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Edison Gets Past Margaretta

           On a night when getting the ball in basket was about as easy as putting the ball through the clown’s nose on a miniature golf course, Edison hung on to beat “SBC” rival Maragretta (38-32) in a division three district semi-final on Thursday night at Norwalk School.

          The two teams combined to make just 26 of 87 field goals.

          Edison coach Kyle Hammond says when you play a third time, especially with the intensity of the tournament, it can be hard to score.  “You kind of expected it to be a grind it our kind of game when you play a team three times and you are as familiar as are these two teams are.  Who have to give Margaretta a ton of credit playing kind of short handed and the way they grinded and kept tempo the way it was.  I think coach Keller and his staff did a great job in getting them ready to play,” said Hammond.

          James Hill led Edison with 19 points and he gave the Chargers a nine point lead (36-27) with 2:58 to play in the game, but the Polar Bears closed to four (36-32) with 31 seconds left, but it was too late.

          Angelo Frias, a double figure scorer for the Polar Bears, did not play in the tournament game on Thursday night, due to a violation of the district’s athletic policy.

          Coach Steve Keller thought they played very sound defense, they just couldn’t make enough shots.  “I was really proud of our guys.  We had quite a bit of adversity this week and our guys came out and really battled.  Defensively we were good enough.  We had to play a lot of guys some big minutes and we struggled to put the ball in the basket in the second half.  Defensively we did good things,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Offensively we had good looks we just couldn’t score.  Hats off to Edison they have some very good length.  We will keep at it.  Fortunately these guys are all back, so we will keep working hard in the off season to get better.”

          Margaretta led (22-18) at the half, but Hammond says they got offensive rebounds and some hustle plays in the second two periods of the game and that was big for them.  “That was one the big emphasis in the second half.  We have to be the more aggressive team.  I thought in the first half they were beating us to those 50/50 balls and I think in the second half we got some big offensive rebounds and that made a big difference down the stretch,” said Hammond.

          Bailey Kimberlin had 12 points for Margaretta and Nick Leibacher finished with 11.

          Edison shot just 33 percent and Margaretta made only 27 percent of its shots.  Hammond says their kids did an outstanding job of following the game plan.  “I have to give to my assistants credit for the scouting report they put together and our kids stuck to it,” he said.

          Edison (15-9) returns to Norwalk to play Western Reserve (15-8) in the district final on Saturday afternoon.  They beat the Roughriders (55-38) last season to advance to the regional for the first time ever.  They beat team this year (51-48) on February 18. 

“I told our guys I thought they deserved to get to this point.  I know it has been up and down, but they way they have responded in some really tough times this year they are a great group of kids and I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” said Hammond.

Published 3/10/17

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