Hot Stove baseball: Ashton Hazzard helps Grafton Midview Nancy's Diner to second straight state title

ALLIANCE — Another year. Another Hazzard. Another title. Ashton Hazzard was the hero Sunday, tossing a complete-game one-hitter and earning the Class F (ages 13-14) MVP Award as Grafton Midview Nancy's Diner won its second consecutive state title by defeating Alliance Apex Elite 12-1 in six innings at Butler Rodman Park. Last year Nancy's Diner won the Class G championship with 12 of the 13 players on this year's roster. Ashton's brother Nolan was the MVP. "It was kinda like a competition between us in the offseason," Ashton Hazzard said. "I told him I was going to win it and now it feels good that we both have one." Alliance scored first when Gavin Norcom led off the game with a walk and scored on a Gabe Lunsford single. After that moment Hazzard retired 18 of the next 19 hitters, striking out 12 and allowing only one ball to be hit out of the infield. "I've had Ashton since he was little, I've always been able to rely on him," Grafton Midview coach Dan Rozanski said. "Ashton has always been my top pitcher, so when you go into a championship game and give him the ball it makes you, as a coach, feel pretty good." As it has done all season, Grafton Midview had to play from behind to get the win. Ashton Hazzard scored his team's first run in the second inning when he singled and scored on a wild pitch. Two innings later he gave Grafton Midview the lead when he singled home Aiden Rivera, who reached base due to catcher's interference. Rivera then stole second and moved to third on a balk. Rivera ended the day going 1-for-3 with a sixth-inning RBI. He scored three runs after also reaching on a fifth-inning walk. "It's really nice to win a state championship again and feel the same feeling we felt last year," Rivera said. "You've gotta travel to first base any way possible to get around the bases and score." Grafton Midview had six hits off a trio of Alliance pitchers. Colton Holstein, Max Bessey and Nolan Hazzard also had hits for Nancy's Diner, which finished the season with 16 straight wins after losing its first six games of the year. "We lost six games and we came back, there's nothing wrong with that," Rivera said. "Once you lose those it prepares you. Even though we moved up a league and were playing against really tall, fast and strong kids, we always knew we'd be back here." Grafton Midview took advantage of four sixth-inning walks and singles from Bessey and Rivera to build the lead to 11 and invoke the mercy rule at the end of the inning. "We knew when being the younger team in the division the better teams were going to jump out on us," Rozanski said. "Our pitching has been solid all year so I knew we would eventually get our bats going. "In these tough games the boys were able to keep momentum on our side." Grafton Midview scored 10 or more runs in its last 14 games, dating to May 28. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.