Maks power: Maras crushes two homers to lift Brunswick over Strongsville

STRONGSVILLE — In the original lineup, Brunswick designated hitter Tyler Morgan was hitting for first baseman Maks Maras. By the end of Tuesday night, Maras had made a strong case for never leaving the lineup again. Maras eventually was given a bat by coach Grant Relic and blasted a solo home run with one out in the eighth inning. The homer jumpstarted a four-run rally and lifted the first-place Blue Devils to an 8-4 victory over Greater Cleveland Conference rival Strongsville. "They missed on a pitch 2-0, threw me a meatball, and I just put it up in the air and the wind did the rest for me," Maras said. "(Strongsville is) our big rival. Football gets chippy, and we were chirping here today, but it was a heck of a game as always and it felt great to get a team win." Maras also hit a solo home run when he hit for Morgan with two outs in the sixth inning to give Brunswick a 3-0 lead. Both home runs went to right field, where a secondary fence protects the façade of Strongsville High from moonshots like the ones Maras hit. "We DH'd for (Maras) to start, but with the wind blowing out to right field, we told him we might give him a shot later in the game," Relic said. "Kudos to him for not getting down on himself. He thought he'd get an opportunity and he made the most of it." Maras also made a nice play to save a couple of runs when Brunswick led 2-0 with two outs in the fourth. Maras scooped a low throw from third baseman Matt Bottger with runners were on second and third. Jake Gorecki and Jacob Mancini followed Maras' eighth-inning homer with two-out walks. Junior Shane Frimel loaded the bases with a hit. Senior Jake Scherette smacked an infield single that was knocked down by second baseman Connor Chupek to bring in Gorecki. Senior Josh Kross followed with a single into center to plate Frimel and Mancini. "We have two more conference series left against some tough teams in Solon and Medina," Scherette said. "(Sweeping Strongsville) really helps us build confidence. Pretty much the rest of the season, we've got to be in playoff mode." The Blue Devils (10-7, 8-0) hold a one-game lead on Medina (10-5, 7-1) in what has become a two-horse race after the Bees swept Solon. Scherette also homered to right field on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. He had three hits, two RBIs and a run for the game. Kross, who began at catcher, closed by striking out the side in the eighth inning to pick up his first victory. Kross began his relief outing with two outs, the bases loaded and a 4-1 lead in the seventh. After Strongsville's Zach Gaspar scored on a wild pitch, Matt Stroemple tied the game with a two-run single. The score was 4-0 with two outs in the seventh before Szymczak drew a bases-loaded walk on a full count against starter Sean Kidd. An error that allowed Adam Hartman to reach to begin the inning made all four runs unearned. "Most of the time we put ourselves in these situations with silly stuff, and there's always one thing that costs us, if I'm being honest," Scherette said. "It builds a fire in us, and we just try to answer back and got it done tonight." Contact John Urchek at sports@medina-gazette.com. Brunswick 8, Strongsville 4 (8 inn.) BRUNSWICK &emsp;&emsp;100 101 14 — 8 10 2 STRONGSVILLE &emsp;&emsp;000 000 40 — 4 3 2 WP — Josh Kross (1-0) 1 1/3 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 earned, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts. LP — Justin Malloy 2 innings, 4 hits, 5 runs, 2 earned, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts. Brunswick (10-7, 8-0) — Jake Scherette 2 singles, home run, run, 2 RBIs; Josh Kross 2 singles, 3 RBIs; Maks Maras 2 home runs, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Jake Gorecki single, 2 walks, 2 runs. Strongsville (9-6, 4-4) — Mitch Szymczak 2 walks, run, RBI; Matt Stroemple single, 2 RBIs; Anthony Gentile single, 2 walks, hit by pitch.