One of the goals that Coach Navatsyk had early on in the Blizzard’s existence was to keep a team together for a number of years and then go and win the CABA High School World Series in Euclid. Alas, neither of those things came to pass as numerous boys joined other teams at the age of fifteen and, when it came time to play in CABA this year, the Blizzard did not have its full array of players. As coach Navatsyk sat on his bucket looking out over the Buffalo skyline from the first base dugout of the incredible Coca Cola Field calling pitches that he thought would end the game, there was a great sense of satisfaction at the way this team had focused and performed against some great baseball teams. Every player had made a major contribution and now we were one out away from finishing three of the best days of baseball that a group of high school kids could possibly play. CABA seemed irrelevant.  Playing with their full roster of players who still have high school eligibility and holding a two run lead with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh and playing at tremendous facilities against a seemingly stronger field of teams than in CABA, Chardon was twice only one pitch away from making it game, set and match in the prestigious New Era Classic College Invitational Showcase Tournament.

This tournament started with the Blizzard not having played with their full roster of  position players since the Ohio Orioles game on July 16. Plus, although they had a ton of batting practice, the boys had not faced any live pitching in eleven days so it was hard to know what to expect. However, there was nothing to worry about as these young men who genuinely appear to love playing together came out focused and energized in hammering the Ontario Prospects Red team from Ajax, Ontario by a run rule score of 9-1. Corey Hites went the distance in this one as he befuddled the Prospects hitters with his varying array of pitches from about 16 different arm angles. Offensively, Phil Navatsyk doubled, Andrew Frey doubled and drove in three runs, Ryan Weed had two doubles, a single and three rbi and Rodney Lewis matched Weed. Last but not least, Danny “the Seufdog” Seufer drove in a run late in the game with a pinch hit ground ball to third. It was a great start but two very strong teams from Pittsburgh and Baltimore were still waiting in the wings.

Since coach Navatsyk had a chance to scout all four pool teams prior to playing any of them, He knew that Chardon was going to have its work cut out for them against both the All American Baseball Club from Pittsburgh and the Bel Air Braves from Baltimore. Tommy Webb was chosen to start game two against the very tough Pittsburgh lineup and he did what he has done for most of the season – pitched like a number one pitcher, threw a 119 pitch complete game and, in the process, earned a 10-4 win that was much more difficult than the score would indicate. Tommy was relentless in pounding the strike zone after throwing 71 pitches in the first three innings. He has that quality that all great pitchers have and that cannot be taught – a bulldog toughness that locks his teeth on your leg and won’t let go. Don’t underestimate him next spring as he pitches for NDCL. Offensively, the Blizzard pounded out 13 hits and looked very comfortable at the plate. Andrew Frey and Mr. Webb had two singles and a double each and Ross LaMarca started one of his “Rocco Streaks” with a single and a long double while catching his second of seven games in three days. It is hard to exaggerate the great passion and toughness that the LaMarca brothers show every time that they step on the field. Boulder City’s gain is definitely Chardon’s loss.

Game three brought an overmatched OIBA Prospects team from Toronto. Corey Waite gave up two hits in four innings and Chardon won easily 12-0 as the Prospects appeared to be short on pitching and a little young to be playing in this type of tournament. However, they were coached by a former Cuban National Team player who had defected to Canada 14 years ago and he and Coach Navatsyk hit it off right away over the common denominator of the game of baseball. Rocco had two singles and another long double in this one plus four rbi. Kevin Bernay also drove in three runs.

Game four was played at Coca Cola Field, home of the New York Mets Triple A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons and, even though the Blizzard was 3-0, there was no guarantee that they would advance unless they won this game. The Bel Air Braves were another very solid offensive lineup. Matt Murzynski got his first start in a Blizzard uniform and appeared nervous or maybe just a little out of sync in the first inning as he threw 23 pitches and gave up a run on a walk, a couple of wild pitches and a base hit. After a 19 pitch second inning, Matt seemed to settle in and he mowed down a very tough Bel Air lineup in throwing a 102 pitch six inning complete game as the Chardon offense exploded late for a 10-1 run rule victory that, again, was much tougher than the score would indicate. Kevin Bernay drove in four big runs in this one with key base hits and Ryan Weed singled and tripled for another 3 rbi. Ross LaMarca continued his torrid tournament with two singles, another long double and a walk while Phil Navatsyk singled, doubled and drove in a run. The Blizzard appeared to have the number one seed locked down until a convoluted tie breaking system which is too complicated to explain made them the number two seed instead. Little did Coach Navatsyk know that Sunday was going to bring three games against teams that, from top to bottom, were as offensively sound as any that the boys had played all year. But Chardon still had three starting pitchers left – thanks to four straight complete game performances by Corey Hites, Tommy Webb, Corey Waite and Matt Murzynski.

Sunday morning came bright and early with an 8 am start in a slight drizzle at the beautiful all turf baseball complex at St. Joe’s High School. Danny Seufer got the start against the Clifton Park Yankees. The wind was blowing in hard and Danny also did what he has done most of the summer – throw his four seam, two seam, curve and change-up for strikes at any time in the count. Danny made Clifton put the ball in play and Ryan Weed played center field like he was born to do it. The result was a hard fought 7-4 victory. Corey Hites came in to get the final three outs in the seventh and record a save. Offensively, Ross LaMarca, Andrew Frey, Jack LaMarca and Rodney Lewis all doubled and Ross and Rodney also added singles. This one was another great team effort over what is apparently the best baseball program in the Albany, New York area.

The semi-finals brought the number one baseball club from the Syracuse, New York area – the CNY Thunder Nationals – who had scored 57 runs in their four pool play games. This was another team full of mechanically sound hitters from top to bottom. Danny Belliveau was masterful in throwing a 102 pitch, seven inning, complete game. In doing so, he held the explosive CNY offense to one run on only two hits. Weed looked like the Say Hey Kid (Willie Mays for you youngsters) as he patrolled center field and made one flat out diving catch in right center that absolutely no one thought that he had a chance to get. Danny Belliveau showed that, when he throws strikes and stays ahead in the count, he is tough to hit solidly. The Chardon offense squeezed out three runs in the first on two walks, a fielder’s choice, a Ross LaMarca line shot double and another big two out rbi single by Kevin Bernay. Kevin really hit the ball well at the end of the season, especially with runners in scoring position and two outs. As any coach will tell you, those are huge base hits. The Blizzard scored one more in the second and one more in the third and then held on.

This set up the championship match between the New Era Cap Showcase team and the group of boys from a 15 mile circle of Lake and Geauga Counties. Andrew Ross took the mound at beautiful Coca Cola Field and did his job as he held the high powered New Era team to 3 runs in 4 and 2/3 innings before giving way to Corey Hites. Corey came on with two runners on and two outs in the fifth and got a strike out with a wicked slider. After working his way through the sixth and striking out the first two hitters in the seventh, Corey looked almost unhittable. But then came the aforesaid bloop, double and single and, just like that, the momentum had shifted. Neither the home plate umpire nor the base umpire did the Blizzard any favors in this one but since one of our mottos is “no excuses,” we’ll drop it right there. Offensively, the highlight was an Andrew Frey  400 foot monstrous home run way over the GEICO sign in left center. Andrew also had a line shot double to the gap in the fifth when the Blizzard scored three times to take a 5-3 lead and seemingly seal the game. Phil Navatsyk hit a bomb to right center for a triple in that same inning immediately following an awful call at first base in which Matt Murzynski was called out on a play which he beat by a full step. At that point coach Navatsyk went on the field to have a friendly discussion with the base umpire who had earlier taken Chardon out of an inning with an awful call on a pick-off throw at first from the New Era catcher. It certainly is hard to just drop it.

The bottom line is that this Blizzard team saved the best for last and ended the season on a high note. Six wins in three days against teams of this calibre is nothing to hang your heads about. But it sure does hurt when the seventh win is one pitch away. Did I mention that Corey Hites was walking off the field thinking that he had the third out in the seventh on a slider that appeared to be thigh high down the middle? I guess I shouldn’t.