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2025 OHSAA Tournament: Division VII State Final - #2 Minster vs #5 Newark Catholic

AKRON - A five-run second inning ignited Minster to an 8-0 win over Newark Catholic in the Division VII state championship game on Saturday afternoon at Canal Park.

“This is the sixth (trip) as a team with I as coach and fourth championship,” head coach Mike Wiss said. “They’re all special, I don’t put one ahead of the other. But when you have a son out there, it’s a little bit different.”

A bunt hit by his son Andrew Wiss, singles from Reese Beair and James Niemeyer along with three walks and two errors led to the five Minster runs in the second and that was more than enough for Caleb Couse and James Niemeyer, who combined on a five-hit shutout.

“I knew my defense was behind me,” pointed out Couse, who struck out seven and allowed three hits in five innings, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second. “After the walk (to lead off the inning), I decided to put my trust in my team. I could go up there and throw every ball down the middle and trust what my team would do.”

What the Wildcats did was hit, pounding out 10 base knocks with every starter reaching base at least once.

“The biggest thing we think of is a middle-oppo approach,”explained Beair,who had three hits in the game. “When you get the first man on, odds go up you score a run.”

The junior pointed to confidence as huge.

“Know you put the work in,” Beair said. “It’s just a kid’s game. You’ve got to play ball. I got lucky and was able to string some hits together.”

The pitching did its part in helping the second-ranked team claim a state crown.

“I told Couse two times through the order, get us there with a lead and we’ll turn it over to James,” Wiss noted. “We did a nice job defensively. Victory favors the team making the fewest mistakes and that’s pretty much our tournament run. We didn’t give people runs.”

The second-place finish was the fifth in school history for Newark Catholic, winners of nine state titles.

HOT TAKES

PLAYER OF THE GAME: While the hitting was there for the Wildcats, Couse was strong on the hill throwing 46 of 78 pitches for strikes in shutting down a team that had scored 74 runs in six tournament games prior to Saturday. 

D-VII TOURNEY MVP: Beair came up big at the plate in both games, going 3-5 with an RBI against Newark Catholic after going 2-3 with a walk and two runs scored in the semifinal 5-3 victory over Russia.The left-handed hitting junior was robbed of a hit on his final at-bat, a diving grab by Newark Catholic center fielder Hal Gillespie.

WHAT’S NEXT?: While a 10th state title eluded Newark Catholic, the program that is tied with Moeller for the second most championships in history behind Elder loses just two starters from the starting lineup in Saturday’s game with Minster, with pitching ace Owen Pzymierski leading a large group of returnees for the third year at the helm for head coach Ron Graves. … The top two pitchers graduated for Minster leaving a couple holes in the quest to make it back to state for the seventh time in the 31-year tenure of Wiss. Beair and Andrew Wiss headline the returnees for the Midwest Athletic Conference power.

LINESCORE

Minster                   050  021  0  -  8  10  0
Newark Catholic    000  000  0  -  0   5  2

Records: Minster 26-6, Newark Catholic 21-10.

Winning Pitcher: Caleb Couse (5 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks). Other: James Niemeyer.

Losing Pitcher: Max Moore (1.1 innings, 5 runs, 4 hits, 1 strikeout, 3 walks). Other: Mikey Hess.

Leading Hitters: (Minster) - Dylan Heitkamp run; Reese Beair 3 singles, RBI; Louis Magoto 2 singles, run; James Niemeyer single; Ian Homan single; Rylan Edwards 2 runs; Jace Hemmelgarn 2 runs; Andrew Wiss 3 singles, run; Connor Schmiesing single, 2 RBIs. (Newark Catholic) - Mikey Hess single; Miller Hutchison single; Owen Pzymierski single; Hal Gillespie 2 singles.

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