High school baseball: Medina beats Brunswick with small ball

MEDINA — The Medina baseball team decided to open Greater Cleveland Conference play in memorable fashion Wednesday by walking off with a 2-1 win over Brunswick. With the teams tied 1-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bees (4-1, 1-0) had a nearly perfect inning that resulted in a walk-off RBI single by junior second baseman Joey Johnson. Senior Nick Kaplack started the inning with a line-drive single to left field on the first pitch he saw from Brunswick reliever Nolan Burke and gave way on the bases to Kellen Hathaway, who was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by River Blomquist. After an intentional walk to Brian Wuchter, Landon Briggs drew a walk to load the bases, setting the stage for Johnson, who delivered with a line drive single to right, scoring Hathaway with the winning run. "It was a team effort and I just got to be in the moment," Johnson said. "It feels great to be in the moment." Johnson knows that the chance to win the game doesn't happen without the hitters in front of him doing what they did, especially Kaplack leading off the seventh from the ninth spot in the order. "We started it off with Nick Kaplack," Johnson said. "If he doesn't get that hit, there's never an opportunity for me or anyone else on the team." The game was still tied after the top of the seventh because Medina senior pitcher Nolan Frank worked out of a two-out jam to keep the game 1-1. After striking out the first two hitters of the inning, Frank allowed back-to-back singles to Brunswick (1-3, 0-1) before settling down and inducing a fly ball down the left-field line that drifted foul and was caught by Zeylen Yanmaz. Frank had come into the game in the fifth inning, relieving starter Ethan Acurio, who went four innings of shutout baseball and allowed just one hit while walking three and striking out five. Frank got the win, pitching three innings and giving up one run on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts. "That's how we set it up," Medina coach Mark Kelly said. "Those are our two seniors that we're super excited about. Those are the moments that we want from those two guys, and that's what we expect from Ethan and Nolan. They did a great job on the mound keeping us in that game." Brunswick struck first in the fifth. After Frank struck out the first two hitters, junior Brandt Almady got a pinch-hit single that went about 45 feet between the pitcher's mound and third-base line. After a walk to Kyle Smiglia, Connor Adams drove in Almady with a single to make it 1-0. Another infield single followed, but Frank got out of the inning by inducing a grounder to first baseman Luka Pagura. "A couple of infield hits, that's baseball," Kelly said. "It's unlucky in a way, but at the end of the day, that's what Acurio and Frank do, and that's why that we set it up like that." Medina struck right back against Brunswick starter Ryan Maslyk in its half of the fifth on Johnson's first RBI single of the game, as Wuchter got a one-out single, followed by a walk to Briggs. Then Johnson drove in Wuchter to tie the game. "After I K'd in my first at-bat, I knew I had to come back and do something with my ABs," Johnson said. "I can't go down three times. I was being aggressive, not waiting back, not waiting for him to come to me." That was the only time other than when the first two runners of the game reached for Medina that the Bees offense was able to get anything going against Maslyk, who went five innings and allowed the one run on four hits while walking three and striking out 10. With two on and nobody out in the first, he struck out the next two hitters and got a grounder to third to end the threat. The teams will meet today at Brunswick, weather permitting. Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Medina 2, Brunswick 1 BRUNSWICK 000 010 0 — 1 6 1 MEDINA &emsp;&emsp;000 010 1 — 2 6 0 WP — Nolan Frank (1-0) 3 innings, 4 hits, run, earned, 5 strikeouts, walk. LP — Nolan Burke (0-1) 1 1/3 innings, 3 hits, run, earned, strikeout, 2 walks. Brunswick (2-3, 0-1) — Connor Adams 2 singles, RBI; Elijah Poindexter double; Kyle Smiglia single, 2 walks. Medina (4-1, 1-0) — Joe Johnson 2 singles, walk, 2 RBIs; Nick Kaplack 2 singles; Brian Wuchter single, 2 walks, run; Lincoln Briggs single, 2 walks.