Hot Stove Baseball: North Ridgeville rallies past Avon for Class I state title

ALLIANCE — Landon Gefell came through in the clutch for North Ridgeville. He launched a line drive into center field that plated the go-ahead runs for the Rangers, who then kept Avon 3 Outs Academy off the board to hold on for a 13-11 win in the Class I (ages 7-8) championship at Butler Rodman Park on Sunday. Gefell was named MVP after a 2-for-3 day with two RBIs, a run and a triple. "That's not easy with 8-year-old kids knowing they're down one in their last at-bat potentially," North Ridgeville coach Sean Fleming said. "We have kids that will produce all throughout the lineup. What a moment for Landon." Both teams had their fair share of heroes in the championship game. Avon rode a 4-for-4 day from Tommy Sheridan, who scored twice and drove in a run. Jack Chamberlain reached twice with a double and two RBIs, while Ryan Villwock went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice and three RBIs. Two of his RBIs came in the fourth, which gave Avon an 11-10 lead that it took into the next two innings largely because Villwock pitched great in relief. He faced just seven batters, allowing a hit with six strikeouts. "Ryan has been one of our team leaders all year," Avon coach Aaron Chamberlain said. "Ryan was voted our All-Star for Hot Stove this year. We had a great player and a great teammate who throws hard and hits hard. He does all the right things." Avon had a chance to add more runs in the fifth when its first two batters reached safely and advanced into scoring position, but the Rangers went to Bryson Mollenkamp in relief. He struck out the first batter he faced, walked the bases loaded and responded with two more strikeouts to keep the deficit at one run. "Bryson is our youngest kid," Fleming said. "He's 7 years old, he's in first grade and he's the most composed kid we have. That's not an easy moment to be involved in, knowing you have to come in and still maintain your composure knowing that it's up to you. He knew we were riding with him and just a big-time delivery from him. I'm super proud of him." Gefell clinched MVP honors in the top of the sixth. Hudson Jarrett led off with a home run to right that tied the game at 11. Two hits and a walk loaded the bases for Gefell, who delivered what were ultimately the winning runs. Avon looked as if it was going to rally right back in the bottom of the sixth when its first two batters reached safely. However, Chamberlain was called for interference for making contact with Carter Rush as he was rounding third, which negated a run and produced the first out. Avon had runners on the corners with two outs, but a grounder to first ended the game. "It was a great year," Chamberlain said. "We actually played these guys first game of the year and we kind of saw it coming that this would be first game and last game. It didn't end the way we wanted. "I made a little flub at the end that thankfully didn't matter, but it's just one of those games that was back and forth all day. Both teams' pitchers were cranking. You'll take those lumps sometimes." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.