Hot Stove Baseball: Cody Martin K's 14, flirts with no-hitter as Grafton Midview wins Class E state title

ALLIANCE — In the opinion of Grafton Midview Wolff Brothers coach Chad Armburger, pitcher Cody Martin had one of the best seasons in Hot Stove history. He ended it Sunday with a performance for the ages. Martin, a 2025 Midview grad and Muskingum University commit, took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and finished with 14 strikeouts while leading his team to a 6-1 win over Alliance American Legion Post 166 in the Ohio Hot Stove Class E state championship game at Butler Rodman Park. It was the second consecutive Class E state title and third Hot Stove championship in four years for Armburger-coached Grafton Midview teams. "This is a good group of boys, they are really close. It means a lot to me that they are able to walk off the field the last time as winners," Armburger said. Grafton Midview (12-4) got on the board early as Cason Pelko set the tone with a leadoff triple and was driven in by a Chase Harper double. Harper eventually scored on an Ethan Taylor single to give Grafton Midview a 2-0 lead after the opening inning. "Getting up early is one of the most important things you can do in baseball," Pelko said. "This team we faced is really good so we knew we had to set the tone for the rest of the game." With Martin on the mound, Grafton Midview didn't need a lot of offense. Martin allowed only three balls to be hit to the outfield and had at least one strikeout in every inning. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate with a run scored and earned the Thurman Munson Award as tournament MVP. "It means everything to win this championship," Martin said. "I took a break last year to play travel ball but I wanted to come back and play with this team one more time because I've been with these boys since I was young." Martin shut out American Legion Post 166 last week in the semifinals and didn't think it would be as easy the second time around. "I thought they were going to know everything I was doing," Martin said. "I threw the same thing I did last week and it worked. I give them credit, they are a very good team, but we just played better today." Grafton Midview didn't just rely on the arm of Martin, it was successful in every facet of the game. Nine Grafton Midview players had hits and the team played errorless defense. "We had the hits when we needed them," Armburger said. "The defense has been stellar all year. We have a good group of ballplayers who were playing their best baseball at the end of the year." Ryan Kemer came off the bench to pinch hit in the fourth inning and delivered a double that drove in a pair of runs to extend the Grafton Midview lead to 4-0. "I was trying to get some practice swings in, I wasn't sure I was going to see the ball coming in off the bench," Kemer said. "But I saw that second pitch, a little bit outside, and I just took it that way." Kemer, who along with his brother Nick were members of the 2024 title team, said going back-to-back was a little tough but also more rewarding. "We all love each other and we're really good friends," Kemer said. "That's what kept powering us. "We felt more pressure this time because it's the last ride for a lot of us but we overcame that and came out on top again." Harper and Jacob Armburger scored on wild pitches in the fifth inning to account for the other Grafton Midview runs. Alliance scored its only run on a one-out sacrifice fly in the seventh. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.