High school baseball: North Ridgeville beats Brookside in Summer Classic

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — What started as a pitcher's duel turned into a shootout. The starters for both North Ridgeville and Brookside kept the offense to a minimum until Jason Sewell woke up the Rangers with a two-run double that led to a 12-2 win in six innings in the Adrian Abrahamowicz Summer Classic on Tuesday afternoon. The Rangers improved to 2-0 in group play, a half-game ahead of undefeated Avon (1-0) and a full game ahead of Avon Lake (1-1), while Brookside fell to 0-1. "I just try to see ball, hit ball," said Sewell, who finished 1-for-2 with two runs, a double and two RBIs. "I feel like you shouldn't really complicate things too much. Just see the pitch and hit the pitch. That definitely got us going." Hits were at a premium prior to the bottom of the fifth. The Rangers were held to just one hit and one walk by two Brookside pitchers for the first four innings. Two North Ridgeville pitchers limited the Cardinals to just two hits and three walks for the entire game. Brookside starter Danny Fries sat down all nine batters he faced in three innings of work, striking out six. "Control felt good," Fries said. "I was throwing hard. It was just a good day on the mound. My coach pointed something out last open field that was messing up my command and I threw it in a summer ball game. I threw it again today and it's been feeling good ever since." But Nolan Dubecky, his counterpart at North Ridgeville, matched him pitch-for-pitch. He went three innings and allowed two runs — both unearned thanks to a pair of errors — on one hit and two walks with six strikeouts. The Rangers' bats woke up when Brookside went to the bullpen, while North Ridgeville reliever Reed Hamilton kept dealing. Hamilton pitched three scoreless innings of relief, striking out four while allowing one hit and one walk, but faced just nine batters. "Nolan is a good player," North Ridgeville coach Matt Ponting said. "He doesn't play any summer ball, so he's had some time to rest. He came in and threw really well. We're super proud of him. We're looking for big things out of him this year." North Ridgeville started the fifth with a pair of walks to set up Sewell's two-run double, which tied the game at 2. Two more runs scored, as the Rangers took a 6-2 lead. They piled on in the sixth as all seven batters reached safely with the first six scoring to trigger the 10-run rule. "I saw them compete and battle and not give up," Brookside coach Travis Baldwin said. "That's what we're looking for. We don't want kids who come out and if you get down or up early change how they play the game. You should play the same way all the time and that's what I saw today. Everybody was hustling, trying to put together good at-bats, trying to play well in the field. That's what we want." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. STANDINGS Team Rec. Dif. RA Group 1 Westlake 2-0 19 13 Rocky River 1-0 4 3 Amherst 1-1 -3 9 Firelands 0-1 -3 10 Elyria 0-2 -17 25 Group 2 N. Ridgeville 2-0 25 3 Avon 1-0 3 5 Avon Lake 1-1 8 9 Brookside 0-1 -10 10 Open Door 0-2 -26 28 *Top two from each group advance to Saturday's semifinals Tuesday's scores Amherst 3, Elyria 2 Westlake 10, Firelands 7 Avon Lake 12, Open Door 1 North Ridgeville 12, Brookside 2 Today's schedule Firelands at Amherst, 5:30 p.m. Rocky River at Elyria, 5:30 p.m. Brookside at Avon Lake, 5:30 p.m. Avon vs. Open Door, 5:30 p.m. (at North Ridgeville)