District baseball: Ryan Stoops homers twice as Wadsworth beats Warren Harding

WADSWORTH — Ryan Stoops took a few steps toward first base before tossing his bat into the air after hitting his second home run that capped the Wadsworth baseball team's 8-1 Division II, Northeast 2 District semifinal win over Warren Harding on Wednesday."I've never had a bat flip in my life. I've always been scared to do it," he said. "I hit that one pretty hard, so I decided to do it."The homer capped a four-run sixth inning for the 12th-seeded Grizzlies (15-8), who will face top-seeded Lakewood (26-0) in the district final at Mentor at 2 p.m. Friday.Leading just 4-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth after 30th-ranked Harding (6-19) scored its lone run in the top of the inning, the Wadsworth bats finally exploded.Brody Carbaugh led off with a missile off the foot of the third baseman for a single and Brett Pelkey followed with his second single of the game. Blake Hoover drove in both with a single and advanced to third on a throw to the plate and fielder's interference. Jason Copeland drove Hoover in with a sacrifice fly to center field, the second time he had done so in the game.That's when Stoops stepped up and delivered his massive blast for the exclamation point."It was really good (for us to put up some runs), especially going into Lakewood, which is going to be really tough for us," Stoops said. "If we get something going right now, hopefully we can get it going to Lakewood."Adding those runs felt big for the Grizzlies, who last season in the same round at the same venue held a 6-2 lead over Riverside before allowing eight runs in the seventh for a 10-6 loss.That game ran through Stoops' mind in the closing innings."It is better than being up by four runs and losing in the seventh," Stoops said. "It's good we did not let the moment get to us and scored some runs to not make it close at the end."The Grizzlies scored in the first when Pelkey led off with a single and came home on a sacrifice fly by Stoops. They plated another run in the third when Pelkey led off with a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly by Copeland.That 2-0 lead was maintained until the fifth, when Copeland reached on an error with one out and Stoops followed with his first homer of the game."I actually didn't think it was going to get out, because it was pretty deep to center," Stoops said. "I must have got it pretty good. I've been hitting the ball pretty well this past couple of weeks. I've been feeling it, so every ball I'm seeing, I feel like I can crush it."Wadsworth used two pitchers, as sophomore Jamison Marshall started and went the first three innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out five. He threw only 40 pitches, meaning he'll be available to pitch against Lakewood.Sophomore Chris Cindia (4-2) went the final four innings, allowing an unearned run on one hit and four walks with five strikeouts.Both pitchers, however, used one big pitch to get out of a jam when they needed it.For Marshall, his came with a runner on second and one out in the top of the third inning with Wadsworth up 1-0 and Harding leadoff hitter Jaron Edmonds at the plate facing a 2-2 count. That's when Marshall surprised Edmonds by going with a curveball and got him looking for the second out before getting the next hitter to pop out."I just felt I threw him all fastballs to begin with, so I thought that was going to throw them off," Marshall said. "I have the best pitching coach in the nation (Bill Gearhart), and that's what he called, and it worked. It was a ginormous pitch."Cindia's moment came almost immediately after he entered in the fourth, as he walked the first two hitters. After a coaching visit, he delivered the first pitch to Doug Pleacher over the plate and the Harding first baseman hit it to shortstop Bentley Weick, who started a 6-4-3 double play.Cindia struck out the next hitter to end the rally."That was a huge momentum boost for me," Cindia said. "I couldn't really find the zone at all, and just to be able to go out there, throw a strike and have my defense support me and get me two quick outs there, that was just huge for me, really gave me a boost to get out of that inning."Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 8, Harding 1Division II, Northeast 2 District SemifinalHARDING 000 001 0 — 1 2 1WADSWORTH 101 024 x — 8 8 1WP — Chris Cindia (4-2) 4 innings, 1 run, hit, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts. LP — Da'ROne Pennock (0-2) 4 1/3 innings, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 4 hits, 4 walks, 1 strikeout. Harding (6-19). Wadsworth (15-8) — Ryan Stoops 2 home runs, 4 RBIs, 2 runs; Nate Pelkey single, 2 walks, 3 runs; Blake Hoover 2 singles, 2 RBIs, run; Jason Copeland walk, 2 RBIs, run, Bentley Weick single, double.