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2025 OHSAA Tournament: Division VI State Final - #1 Hiland (Berlin) vs #2 Lake Center Christian

AKRON - A three-peat has been completed. Hiland is a state champion once again.

In a battle that lived up to the billing of the top two ranked teams in Division VI, the Hawks stunned Lake Center Christian 5-4 for the third consecutive state title.

“We kind of talked about it all year but never thought about it as a reality until now,” Hiland head coach Chris Dages said of the three-peat. “It’s not an easy thing to do, which you saw there. They came back. That’s a good team."

After the Tigers put up three runs without a hit in the top of the seventh to rally from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead, Hiland scored two in the bottom of the inning to pull off the exciting victory with Logan Yoder producing in the clutch.

“We still had three outs to go and we had the top of the order coming up,” Dages said of being confident his squad could come through. “These guys don’t know the word quit. We got the first guy on, executed some bunts and put pressure on them and Logan came through big time. He drove that ball. It was awesome.”

Caden Coblentz was hit by a pitch to open the frame and, after moving to second on a wild pitch, Mike Miller reached on a bunt. When the ball was bobbled at first, Coblentz slid into home with the tying run with Miller advancing to second on the play.

Colin Coblentz bunted Miller over to third and Grady Monigold and Danny Hostetler were intentionally walked to load the bases.

Yoder then played hero for the No. 1 team in the division, lining a single to left to plate Miller with the game-winning run.

“I knew they wanted to face me there, I was 0-3 with two strikeouts,” the junior third baseman said of the intentional walks. “I knew I wasn’t going to chase anything down low that I had been doing. I wanted to see a pitch up in the zone, something fast that I could just drive.”

Hiland scored first in the second on a Grady Monigold double, a wild pitch and a Keith Hershberger single. Kaden Kandel, who started and threw five shutout innings, had a base hit and scored an inning later and the Hawks made it 3-0 in the fifth on an RBI single from Monigold en route to the fourth overall championship at the school.

“Growing up we try to put ourselves in pressure situations when we’re younger,” Monigold explained. “It’s about doing what you can to come through. Do your job for the next guy. As long as you keep the game going there’s a shot. You’ve just got to believe in yourself. We have a lot of guys that believe, that have lots of confidence.”

Lake Center Christian scored its first run on a Jacob Rainieri RBI single in the sixth before taking the lead in the seventh that featured two walks, an error, a wild pitch and a Caleb Shelly sacrifice fly.

“They were never out of it,” Monigold said of the Tigers. “That’s a scrappy team with some young dudes. They’ll be back next year. We expect to see them again.”

A trip to state is becoming the norm for the Hawks.

“They work at it all year 'round,” Dages said about what makes the program so special. “It’s a passion for these guys. They love to play, they love to play with each other. These guys know what it takes. They’ve seen it. They want a piece for themselves and they work at it. They want to win.”

HOT TAKES

PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Yoder drove in Miller and the two juniors will share the honor. Miller finished with a pair of singles, two runs scored and a walk.

D-VI TOURNEY MVP: Monigold drove in three runs, scored two and had a single and double in the two Hiland wins and edges out the Malone-bound Coblentz twins.

WHAT’S NEXT?: The first seven in the batting order are underclassmen and so are the top four (or more) pitchers making for a promising season ahead for Lake Center Christian, Head coach Shane Byler certainly has a good thing going heading into year 13 at the helm of the Tigers, … Although six seniors started in the finals and both pitchers that began games on the mound at Akron have graduated, don’t worry about the Hawks. Miller, Monigold and Yoder will be the leaders for Dages and company, which join Elder (1958-59-60) and Newark Catholic (2002-03-04) as programs that have won three state titles in a row.

LINESCORE

Lake Center Christian    000  001  3  -  4  3  1
Hiland                             011  010  2  -  5  7  2

Records: Hiland 31-1, Lake Center Christian 28-5.

Winning Pitcher: Others: Kaden Kandel (5innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts, 5 walks). Others: Mike Miller, Colin Coblentz. 

Losing Pitcher: Others: Caleb Shelly (4.2 innings, 3 runs, 5 hits, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk). Other: Grant Coblentz.

Leading Hitters: (Lake Center Christian) - Grant Coblentz single, run; Caleb Shelly run, RBI; Luke Heckert run; Brayden Myers double, RBI; Jacob Rainieri single; Chance Klingelhofer run. (Hiland) - Caden Colblentz run; Mike Miller 2 singles, 2 runs, RBI; Grady Monigold single, double, run, RBI; Logan Yoder single, RBI; Keith Hershberger 2 singles, RBI; Kaden Kandel single, run.

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