Hot Stove baseball: Patient North Ridgeville improves to 18-1 with win over Columbia in Class H

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — The second-seeded North Ridgeville TLC Rays put a complete game together with big hits, steady pitching and solid defense in a 17-7 five-inning win over Columbia CMH Excavating in a Hot Stove Class H regional semifinal Sunday afternoon at Palmer Field. North Ridgeville (18-1) will be back at Palmer Field on Saturday for a chance to go to the state tournament in the 9-year-old division in Alliance. Columbia (10-9) took a 2-0 lead in the first when Wyatt Hamman drew a two-out walk and Mace Beck sent him home with a double to right. Beck scored when Roman Sullo's grounder resulted in an error. Patience was the key for the TLC Rays in their half of the first as they sent 10 batters to the plate, drawing seven walks with seven batters working 3-2 counts. Macsen Letner drew a bases-loaded walk, Adam Spier and Jonah Novicky did the same and Eli Banak sent a run home with an infield fly ball that dropped for a 5-0 lead. CMH Excavating loaded the bases against North Ridgeville starting pitcher Jacob Healy the next two innings but didn't score as Healy got a grounder to first to end one threat and a come-backer to the mound for the second. Meanwhile, the TLC Rays gave themselves plenty of breathing room, scoring the maximum seven runs in the second, again sending 10 batters to the plate. Liam Gefell reached on an error and eventually scored on a wild pitch, Letner walked and scored on a Kian Cole single. A Bentley Comerfield hit and a walk to Spier loaded the bases for Novicky, who had been slumping at the plate. But this time he delivered a huge double to the fence in dead-center to clear the bases. Banak followed with an infield single, and the inning came to an end when Gefell singled home both baserunners for a commanding 12-2 lead. "The boys have learned to be patient and learned to make sure the ball is right there to get good swings," North Ridgeville coach Gary Brown said. "That really started it when Jonah (Novicky) had that hit. He had a tiny slump and, boom, there it was, he looked at me from second and was really excited about it." The lead grew to 14-2 going to the fifth, meaning Columbia had to score three runs to keep the game from ending because of the 10-run mercy rule. CMH Excavating responded to keep the game alive, scoring five times on a pair of hits and a couple of errors. Beck started the inning being hit by a pitch from Zach Gunvalsen in his second inning on the mound. Sullo drove home a run with a double and he scored on a grounder by Nate Petras in which he went all the way to third, ignoring the defense trying to make a play on him. Trevor Alban made sure North Ridgeville had to bat in the fifth with a base hit, and he scored along with Gavin Case, who walked, on another TLC Rays error that cut the lead to 14-7 before North Ridgeville scored three times without a hit to end the game. "Our guys have been working all year and they really came through (in the fifth) and showed that they want to be a good ballclub," Columbia coach Tim Clark said. "To be above .500 against some of these teams we've been playing for three years says something. We love playing against them (TLC Rays), it forces us to bring our A game." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Sunday results Class E (15-18) North Ridgeville Gladiators 3, Elyria 2 Cloverleaf Colts, Buckeye Orange Class EE (15-16) Black River Infinity Floors 19, North Olmsted MK Auto 4 Lorain Bulldogs 2, Grafton Midview General Plug 1 Oberlin Phoenix 12, Cloverleaf Colts 1 Class F (13-14) Columbia Raiders 7, Keystone Child Gardens 6 Alliance Holly Hills 11, North Ridgeville Bananas 0 Class G (11-12) Alliance Traps 11, Olmsted Falls Blue 8 Bay Blue Laschinger 14, Grafton Midview VTD 4 North Ridgeville Riptide 9, Black River Igeneration 8 Wellington Dukes 18, Firelands Falcons White 1 Lakewood Rangers 11, North Ridgeville Smash 8 Cloverleaf Hinderman 19, Medina Swarm Green 4 Grafton Midview Ganley Ford 20, Buckeye Scrappers 1 Class HH (9) Wellington Renegades 12, Firelands Falcons 7 Keystone Valley Chevrolet 17, North Ridgeville Indians 0 North Ridgeville Ennis Court Irish 16, Elyria South 6 Grafton Midview Edwards 14, Bay Rockets 4 North Ridgeville TLC Rays 17, Columbia CMH Excavating 7 Buckeye Ross Masonry 9, North Olmsted Kessler Insurance 7 Class I (8U) Avon 3 Outs 14, Wellington Maroon Storm 1 North Ridgeville Ultra Tech 11, Avon Wild Things 9 North Ridgeville Rangers Blue 11, Buckeye Wrestling 7 Fairview Warriors Mandula 13, Buckeye White 0 Wellington Black Storm 5, North Olmsted VFW 7647 1 Alliance Ventures 12, Keystone West Roofing 3 North Ridgeville Rangers 16, Grafton Midview Clinical Tech 1 Fairview Warriors Cooke 16, Strongsville 11 &emsp;&emsp; Grafton Midview Milano Stone 10, Olmsted Falls Gold 2 Buckeye Mack 9, Black River VFW 6 Keystone Quality First 7, Oberlin All Stars 1 Medina Swarm Black 16, Keystone Lagrange Hardware 0 Medina Swarm Gold 20, North Ridgeville Tigers 3 Marlington Vipers 14, Olmsted Falls Blue 5