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2025 OHSAA Final Four Wrap-up: A Perfect Finish To The 2025 Season

AKRON - Any wrapup piece on the state baseball tournament has to have something about the new format with seven divisions and 28 teams at state.

How did it work?

What was good about it?

There obviously had to be some bad points, right?

Seven vs. Four divisions and 28 vs. 16 teams … 

Here is what the OHSAA had to say:

“We were very pleased with the state tournament and thank the staff at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium and Canal Park for hosting the 21 games,” said Tim Stried, Director of Media Relations with the OHSAA. “We plan to ask the staff at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium to continue serving as a state semifinal host in addition to our longtime host of Canal Park with the Akron RubberDucks. 

“We appreciate all the cooperation and patience from the 28 schools that qualified for the state tournament,” Stried added. “Most of the questions and issues weren’t any different than when we had 16 state qualifying teams. There were no complaints from coaches or administrators about the venues, format or schedule. The rain delay situation on Friday night was a tough situation because the radar kept showing breaks in the rain, but it just didn't stop and it got to the point where we couldn't finish the game on grass and dirt.”

While in the near future there will be more on this subject from Prep Baseball, with views from a number of coaches that made it to regionals, here is a quick look at the new format with a perspective from the pressbox at Canal Park.

The Pros:

-More champions.

-More players and coaches have an opportunity to celebrate.

-More fans get to come to the stadiums with the chance to witness such a great event.

The Cons:

-The inability to be able to see every state semifinal and final game since two stadiums are used.

-Was the route to state fair since some teams only had to win three games to reach the semis?

-An extra day to finish the event.

-Fortunately, bad weather only hit one venue. Had both been hit, it would have meant another day to complete the tournament.

Some Ideas:

-There are numerous televisions throughout Canal Park. Why not have games at Thurman Munson Stadium on half of them, with the game being played at Canal Park on the others? It would help fans as well as media that have a deep interest keep up with the tournament. During one rain delay it happened. It should be at all times.

-Play four semifinal games on Thursday at Canal Park. Then you would have four semifinals at each on Friday, four finals at Canal on Saturday and two semis at Thurman, with three finals on Sunday at Canal. If the tournament stays on schedule it would mean 15 total at Canal Park and six at Thurman Munson, rather than 13 and eight. It would also leave two more spaces for semifinal games to be played on Saturday at Thurman Munson if there are weather issues.

As for next year, the tournament is slated for June 11-14.

Enough on that. Now on to what took place on the fields. 

Do you like lists? 

This is your lucky day. Here are some Top Five (or more) lists from this year’s state tournament for you to enjoy, hate on, ponder etc.

Top Five Games

1. Anthony Wayne vs. Walsh Jesuit

2. Hiland vs. Lake Center Christian

3. Licking Valley vs. Badin

4. Amherst Steele vs. New Albany

5. Lake Catholic vs. Perkins

Top Five Teams

1. Anthony Wayne

2. Olentangy

3. Hiland

4. Waynedale

5. Licking Valley

Top Five Players

1. Shawn Sullivan (Walsh Jesuit)

2. Deacon Nelson (University School)

3. Chandler Taylor (Badin)

4. Devlan Daniel (Indian Hill)

5. Owen Graf (Anthony Wayne)

Another Top Five (or six) Players

1. Braylon Cordonnier (Russia)

2. Ben Veletan (Springboro)

3. Grant Jolly (Wapakoneta)

4. Caden Coblentz (Hiland)

5. Nathan Bryant and Luke Heckert (Lake Center Christian)

Top Five Favorite Players I Enjoyed Watching (Remember I was only at Canal Park)

1. Brody Rodgers (Licking Valley)

2. Aaron Moss (University School)

3. Shane Coblentz (Waynedale)

4. Dylan Crabtree (Perkins)

5. Adam Levy (Graham)

Another Top Five Favorite Players I Enjoyed Watching

1. Kash Kosh (Perkins)

2. Louis Magoto (Minster)

3. Landon Wolf (Amherst Steele)

4. Rocco Bucci (Olentangy)

5. Blake Coleman (Calvert)

Top Five Moments

1. Foul ball sac fly in bottom of seventh: Anthony Wayne vs. Walsh Jesuit

2. Licking Valley beats Badin 1-0 on Zane Hancock single in bottom of ninth

3. Hiland defeating Lake Center Christian in bottom of the seventh on Logan Yoder walk-off hit

4. Landon Wolf of Amherst Steele inside park home run (or was it) vs. New Albany

5. Lake Catholic surviving bases-loaded jam in last of seventh to beat Perkins 3-2 for state title

Top Five Catchers

1. Tristan Franks (Waynedale)

2. AJ Trobenter (Lake Catholic)

3. Dylan Heitkamp (Minster)

4. Jett Smith (Anthony Wayne)

5. Cameron Sopher (Licking Valley)

Another Five Backstop Standouts

1. Zach Wheeland (Graham)

2. Braydon Johnson (Lakota West)

3. Blake Patterson (Springboro)

4. Danny Hostetler (Hiland)

5. Malone Hutchison (Newark Catholic)

Best One-Two (or three) Pitching Combos

1. Owen Graf-Jackson Urenovitch (Anthony Wayne)

2. Evan Lichtenauer-Evan Roberts (Licking Valley)

3. Rocco Bucci-Cameron Birch-Cooper Tracy (Olentangy)

4. Caden Coblentz-Kaden Kandel-Colin Coblentz (Hiland)

5. Shane Coblentz-Logan Troyer (Waynedale)

Top Cheering Sections (not surprising, they’re the closest to Akron)

1. Waynedale

2. Amherst Steele

3. Walsh Jesuit

4. Perkins

5. University School/Olentangy (tie)

Underrated Players

1. Jordan Miller (Waynedale)

2. Lucas Potkanowicz (Anthony Wayne)

3. Mikey Hess (Newark Catholic)

4. Caden Boyes (Lake Catholic)

5. Owen Powell (Graham)

Are these seniors still uncommitted?

1. Cam Simmons (New Albany)

2. Miller Hutchison (Newark Catholic)

3. AJ Trobenter (Lake Catholic)

4. Caden Boyes (Lake Catholic)

5. Blake Patterson (Springboro)

6. LJ Green (Lakota West)

Best Interviews

1. Chris Dages (Hiland coach)

2. Reese Beair (Minster)

3. Ryan Lucas (Olentangy coach)

4. Shane Coblentz (Waynedale)

5. Adam Arcuri (Licking Valley coach)

Best shot to return to state (assuming Hiland * and Waynedale * are back again, like usual) in 2026

1. Amherst Steele *

2. Lake Center Christian *

3. Fairview *

4. Anthony Wayne *

5. Newark Catholic *

* No pressure coaches

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