Hot Stove baseball: Amherst gets plenty of hitting and pitching in Class F regional semifinal win over Sheffield

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Mark Benson gave Amherst's offense a spark while Conner McGregor kept the flame burning. Benson crushed a grand slam in the first inning and McGregor was nearly unhittable on the mound as the Comets defeated Sheffield 15-4 in five innings in a Hot Stove Class F (ages 13-14) regional semifinal Sunday at Palmer Field. Amherst advances to the regional final at Grafton Reservoir Park on July 13 at 3 p.m. The Comets will face either Columbia or Midview for a spot in the Hot Stove state tournament, which will be played at Butler Rodman Park in Alliance on July 19-20. "We have a great team and the team we just beat is a really great team, too," Amherst coach Steven Broski said. "All around, it was just a great performance for the kids. I just hope they can keep it up here on out. We have great confidence. Every single big hit those kids are out there cheering. It was a great game." McGregor was lights out on the mound, allowing just one hit — one shortstop Devin Rhodes did everything in his power to prevent, but Kaeden Keane beat the throw by a hair — while walking two and striking out six. Three of the four runs allowed were unearned, all coming in the second inning. Sheffield had two on with two outs when back-to-back errors caused a combined three runs to score. The Venom added another in the fourth on a wild pitch. "I hadn't been pitching well lately," McGregor said. "I was more relaxed today and my mind was in the game. I was really focused. I hadn't been focused the last couple of games." Amherst's offense gave McGregor more than enough support. Four of the first five batters reached safely. Two hits and a walk set the table for Benson to hammer a ball nearly all the way out of the park, giving the Comets a 4-0 lead. Benson finished 3-for-3 with a single, a double, a home run, four RBIs and three runs. He scored after his double thanks to an error in left field. "For the first pitch, I foul-tipped it, and the second one I hit a curveball," Benson said of his grand slam. "I said to myself, I'm not going to get struck out, so I just hit it and started running. I hadn't been doing well the past two games, so I'm glad I did well this game." Rhodes and Mason Pacheco also drove in two runs each. Rhodes took advantage of a Sheffield error that would have ended the inning with a fly ball into right, giving the Comets a 6-3 lead. Pacheco's two RBIs came on a double in the fourth inning. Amherst walked off the win in the fifth with five of its six runs unearned thanks to four Venom errors. "I couldn't ask for a better group," Sheffield coach Tony Centifanti said. "I love these kids, they're all straight-A students. Not the outcome we wanted, but we fought and now they're off to high school. I hope I made them proud." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.