RAIDERS MAKE IT FOUR DISTRICTS IN A ROW
By Eric Hughes
NEW MIDDLETOWN OH- South Range defeated Garfield, 11-1, in five innings Wednesday night to clinch their fourth consecutive district title.
The Raiders started off with a bang, thanks to an RBI double from Tyson Tarajack in the first inning that scored the first two runs of the game. In the next at-bat, Brennen Klasovsky reached first base on an error and drove in another run for the Raiders to give them a 3-0 lead. Three at-bats later, with the bases loaded, Julian Tranovich grounded out but brought in another run for South Range, giving them a 4-0 lead after one inning.
South Range picked up where they left off and extended their lead following a pair of RBI singles from Klasovsky and Tranovich in the second inning to extend their lead to 7-0. Two at-bats after Tranovich’s RBI single, Dylan Smesko was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which scored another run for the Raiders, giving them an 8-0 lead after two innings.
The following two innings were uneventful, but Garfield avoided the shutout in the fifth inning thanks to an RBI single from Brandyn Bogucki to cut the deficit to 8-1.
South Range responded swiftly and Klasovsky recorded his fourth RBI on the day with a single in the bottom of the fifth to give the Raiders a 9-1 lead. Two at-bats later, Andrew Brian recorded his first hit of the day and batted in two more runs for the Raiders and win them the game thanks to the mercy rule.
Tyson Tarajack shined on the mound for the Raiders, giving up no runs on only three hits, and struck out eight batters, while batting 2-4 at the plate with an RBI double, to lead the charge.
Brennen Klasovsky went 2-4 and drove in a grand total of four RBIs. Gaven Nagy went 3-4 on the day with a double and two singles.
The Raiders advance to the Regional Semifinals on May 30th against Waynedale. The stage is set for the matchup to take place at Massillon Washington, first pitch will be at 5:00.
