What started out with one of the most frustrating losses in Chardon Blizzard history ended with a loss in the Consolation bracket finals but not until 7 and 1/2 hours of some of the gutsiest competition by a group of young men that you have to be a baseball guy to truly appreciate. Playing short handed, with numerous guys hurt, watching forfeits figure in to tie breakers to determine who advances to the Championship bracket, then playing 7.5 hours using mostly guys who haven't pitched regularly since Little League, the Blizzard fought and fought and bludgeoned the baseball all over the ball park before falling 9-8 in the Consolation bracket finals. The wind blowing in and knocking down a lot of hard hit balls by Chardon played no small role in the finals loss. Sunday was the Dominican Rule epitomized and it will be a day that coach Navatsyk remembers for a long time because of the absolute refusal to pack it in when playing for Consolation.

The Battle of the Borders started with a loss to the eventual tournament champion, the Erie Coast Pelicans in a game in which Chardon had only nine guys and got totally shut down at the plate. Nothing more needs to be said about this game other than the fact that the Pelicans are young, well coached and the radar gun had their pitcher throwing in the low 90's.

Saturday brought two wins over a couple of Youngstown Class B teams - the Youngstown Express and Roth Brothers. Against the Express, Ross LaMarca had two doubles and three rbi and Phil Navatsyk had a couple of singles and three rbi. Phil also got hit by a pitch in his first at bat and played barely able to run for the rest of the tournament. Ryan Weed also doubled and singled and scored two runs. Brandon Goss pitched his first game in a Blizzard uniform and threw a complete game in the five inning run rule 11-3 win - striking out six in the process. 

After the Mizuno All Ohio game got rained out, Corey Hites drove 4.5 hours from Chillicothe to Youngstown, hopped out of the car and threw a 98 pitch, seven inning complete game in high heat and humidity to lead Chardon to a 9-3 win. Phil Navatsyk had a single, double and and a couple of walks and Andrew Frey began one of his incredible hitting clinics with two singles, a triple and three rbi. Ross LaMarca added a long home run, two singles, a sac fly and 3 rbi. Alas, the boys immediately knew that we didn't do enough to advance to the Championship bracket as two teams from a pool with a forfeit both advanced.

That meant driving back to Youngstown on Sunday, tired with several guys really beat up, and potentially playing three games to determine who would finish "9th" in the tournament - not exactly the most inspirational circumstances for a group of 17 and 18 year olds. More than a little grumbling could be heard before the game. Then the first game of the day against Livi Steel started and Jack LaMarca faced only five hitters before admitting to coach Navatsyk that his back was hurt. Ryan Weed, who hasn't pitched regularly since he was 12 years old, came in and worked his way out of the inning but not before Livi had scored four runs. But the Blizzard  scored two in the first, six in the second and three in the sixth and Weed went the final 6 and 2/3 innings for an 11-8 win. Phil Navatsyk continued hitting without being able to run with three singles, three runs scored and two rbi. Andrew Frey had two doubles, a single and three rbi and Dan Belliveau added a long double and an rbi.

The second game of the day brought the Ohio Orioles Grey team and one of those games that just leaves you shaking your head. Dan Belliveau, pitching for the first time in six weeks and having had very little work this spring, could not find the strike zone and left the game after an inning and a third. Chardon found themselves staring at a 7-0 deficit with Rodney Lewis on the mound having not pitched regularly since Little League. Let the Dominican Rule begin. Three runs in the second, four in the third, four in the fourth and five in the bottom of the sixth culminated by a two run Dan Belliveau 400 foot monster shot and a Rodney Lewis three run walk off homer saw the Blizzard get rewarded with a 16-13 win and an opportunity to play a third game. The things that Chardon had to overcome to win this game are almost too numerous and ridiculous to mention. Several bad calls by the base ump to take Chardon out of potentially big innings; Corey Hites coming in and throwing his last eligible inning for the tournament; ditto Ryan Weed to close the game; Kevin Bernay coming in and throwing an inning plus; and last, but not least, overcoming a three run deficit in the last inning by scoring six runs - the final five with two outs on the aforementioned home runs. Andrew Frey banged out three of his SEVEN doubles on the day and Rocco added a couple more doubles and a single. Phil Navatsyk doubled and singled and Jack LaMarca started to see the ball as he raked a couple of doubles. Ryan Weed added three hits and Rodney Lewis had a single and a double in addition to the homer - ditto Dan Belliveau. Also, it should be mentioned that Papa Varga, playing with a banged up knee, did a great job behind the plate and added an rbi single. This is a game that coach Navatsyk will remember for a long time - not necessarily because of the quality of the baseball but because of the intensity of the desire to win and the refusal to just throw in the towel in a "meaningless game" and go home. Those thoughts never seemed to enter the minds of one of these young men. This, folks, is what competition is all about.

Now came a little drive to Koch Field where the wind was blowing in and the grass was ridiculously high and soft. The opponent waiting there was the Pittsburgh Diamond Dogs. Totally out of pitching, Chardon started Dan Belliveau again and Danny worked hard for four innings without really having an off speed pitch. Coach Navatysk probably went one inning too many with him. The Diamond Dogs scored five in that fourth inning to take a 7-3 lead. Chardon fought back to tie the game but then lost it when Pittsburgh scored one in the sixth and one in the seventh to win 9-8. The game ended with Rodney Lewis hitting a two out bomb to right center with two runners on that the wind simply knocked down and gave the right fielder a chance to run it down. Had we still been playing at Fitch High School, it would have been another walk off game winner for Rodney. This was one of about five similar shots to the right center field gap that were just beaten back by the wind. Phil Navatsyk, Jack LaMarca and Rodney Lewis all doubled and Andrew Frey hit two more line drive doubles as he made hitting the baseball look much easier than it's supposed to be. Rodney Lewis pitched three strong innings to finish the game.

One thing not to be lost in all of this is that Chardon also played incredible defense. This may seem a little silly considering the scores of the games but there had to be at least six or seven highlight reel plays during the weekend. Every infielder made at least one and our outfielders continued to be flawless. Even fans from the other teams were commenting on a number of the plays made - especially by Andrew Frey at shortstop. Offensively and defensively - our position players can play with anyone. But as anyone who has been around the game knows - pitching is the key to winning. We need to find some soon.

Playing shorthanded and out of position, the Blizzard fought like dogs, pounded out 13 hits in one game, 12 hits in another, hit two long home runs, including a grand slam by Kevin Bernay, pitched and played defense extremely well and walked away with an 8-5 win over the Fort Wayne Cubs and a 6-0 win over the North Columbus Bruins. Billy Poole threw a complete game against the Cubs and Jake Forstyk went five scoreless innings against the Bruins before giving way to Ryan Weed who threw two scoreless and hitless innings in relief for the save. Andrew Frey continued to pound the baseball with a single, double and homer in the first game and a single and triple in the second game. Kevin Bernay is starting to see the ball as he banged out three singles on the day and a long grand slam to break open the Fort Wayne game. Ross LaMarca and Phil Navatsyk added three hits each  and drove in a few runs a piece. But in another crazy turn of events, the Blizzard might go 4-0 and not win their pool which would put us in a postion of having to play twice Saturday and three times Sunday to win the whole thing - a total of 8 games. It's long and too complicated to explain but Chardon could be 5-0 and get rewarded with a single elimination round game against the number one seed. The good news is that it would be played at the Big House in Ann Arbor. Let It Snow!!!!!

 One last thing: going back to the Buffalo tournament last year, the Blizzard is 19-4 in its last 23 games against some very fine teams - often playing without a full roster. It's a tough row to hoe but we'll compete one game at a time and see how it goes.

Playing very short handed and looking to have to play a "play in" game even if we went 4-0 in our pool, coach Navatsyk decided to take a chance against the 0-3 Louisville Saints by not throwing Brandon Goss and saving him for the "play in" game. The result was a 13-10 loss and a 12th seed in the tournament - meaning no top ten finish and another consolation bracket series of games. Plus, we ended up having to pitch Brandon anyway. Still the boys woke up early Sunday morning to play at Chelsea High School's beautiful stadium. The opponent was a college showcase team - the Michigan Elite 18's from Grand Rapids, Michigan - easily the best team that Chardon played in the tournament and maybe the best team that we've played all year - certainly from a position player point of view. Against a very good hitting lineup from top to bottom, Danny Belliveau threw a 93 pitch complete game 8-7 win and, in the process, survived two long home runs and a number of line shots that Blizzard players flashed the leather on. The game ended when, with a man on second, the Elite leadoff hitter drove a ground ball in the hole at short and Ross LaMarca - our starting catcher playing short - made a tremendous play with Kevin Bernay digging the throw out of the dirt on the other end to seal the 21st out. Wow - what a great win. Unfortunately (I think), the rains came and wiped out the two late afternoon games so the Blizzard came home with a 4-1 record on the weekend against some pretty good teams from the midwest.

In the last two games, Chardon played without our starting shortstop and third baseman, with two pitchers in the lineup who haven't hit or played a defensive position in two years and with no bench players to substitute. Alas, we lost to the team that we probably should have hammered and then beat the team that was much better than the team that we lost to. The core group of this team shows up to play every time they cross the lines without making excuses. The relationships that have developed over the years are priceless compared to putting together a hand picked group of new guys every year. Sunday morning's game against the Elite proved once again that these guys will compete with anyone, anywhere, anytime. No offense to anyone but why do teams call themselves "Elite."

A couple of other things should be mentioned: Papa Varga - after struggling at the plate most of the weekend - hammered a long two run double to left center that proved to be the game winner; and Shoeless Jack LaMarca hit a bomb two thirds of the way up the trees over the right center field fence. Great effort by Danny Belliveau to get the win as he walked only one guy. Back to wood bats. 

There was so much joy in Mudville that Abe "the King of Soul" LaMarca, Ray "Uncle Donuts" LaMarca and Coach Navatsyk had to celebrate Abe's birthday with margaritas (not gold) at El Patrones after the 6-1 Blizzard win over the Lake Erie Bulldogs at Munson Township Park. Although the Bulldogs  had none of their four draft picks on the field, they did have 5 D1 players, including their pitcher so, for Chardon, the win was very good. The Blizzard  played a pretty much flawless game except for a couple of base running and base coaching blunders that kept the score closer than it might have otherwise been. Billy Poole scattered four hits over seven innings while Chardon built a 4-1 lead by banging out eleven hits over that same time span. Jake Forstyk threw two scoreless innings of relief and the Blizzard added two insurance runs in the eighth on three more hits. Andrew Frey was sensational at shortstop and at the plate. Why no one is offering this kid a D1 scholarship is beyond coach Navatsyk's understanding. Ross "Don't Knock the Rock" LaMarca put on a show for his visiting girl friend, Hanna, by banging out three base hits, including two long doubles. Rodney Lewis added two hits and two rbi and Kevin Bernay banged out three hits. Andrew Frey singled and doubled and Danny Belliveau had a couple of singles. Phil Navatsyk also contributed a hit, a walk and two stolen bases and Ryan Weed threw a BB from center to throw out a runner trying to score on a base hit. Papa Varga also got into the act with a single and a sac fly. This was a good win which takes our record to 15-5 with all of the losses except one coming without all of our position players. This one was fun. Now, let's go win a tournament. 

The bad news is the Blizzard  was eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the Freedom Classic by Northern Ohio Baseball. The good news is we don't have to drive to Akron/Canton today. After waking up and getting on the road very early for a 9 a.m. start, Chardon arrived at a cow pasture know as Prentiss Park to play against the Maryland Cardinals. It's hard to imagine what the Cardinals must have been thinking after having driven from Baltimore to play in this tournament and end up having to play on a field where there was not a normal hop in the infield, the grass was so high in the outfield that line drives would stop on a dime, the backstop was ten feet behind home plate, the rest rooms were locked, the field dimensions were about 370 down each line and 350 in dead center and the dirt portion of the infield wasn't close to being dragged. After falling behind 3-0 and 4-2, the boys woke up and hit the baseball hard to earn an 11-4 win and a spot in the top 8. Phil Navatsyk had a double, two singles and 4 rbi and Jack LaMarca doubled and homered for 4 rbi out of the 1-2 slots in the lineup. Kevin Bernay added a single, double and homer and two rbi and Ryan Weed also had a couple of base hit plus six strong innings on the mound.

The next game wasn't scheduled until 3:45 at Massillon Jackson High School so the team found a shade tree and took a long nap. Northern Ohio jumped out to an early lead in this one when Alex Lavisky hit a long home run in the first and then they added two more in the second on a double, triple and a sac fly. Chardon hit the ball hard and often but right at people. A couple of tailor made double plays, including one with the bases loaded, took the Blizzard out of a couple of potential big innings and the worst base umpire we've seen in a long time also helped kill a couple of innings not to mention prolonging Northern Ohio's big fifth inning. With the score 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the bottom fell out when Corey Hites uncharacteristically walked two guys and hit two guys. However, this was after the second out of the inning was called safe before any runs had scored. Who knows what happens if that call isn't blown. The door was opened for a six run inning and a 9-1 run rule loss. It happened real quickly and, just like that, the tournament was over. The good news is - we will never play another game at Prentiss Park at 9 in the morning or at any other time - never!

There's nothing more fun for coach in a wood bat tournament than watching his two pitchers throw complete games and not walking anyone. Russ Harless and Ryan Weed went 14 innings and did just that in leading the Blizzard to an 8-2 win over the Ohio Eagles and an 8-0 win over the Marysville Mitts. Unfortuately, a stiff wind blowing directly in kept a number of Blizzard bombs in the ball park at Akron University so both games had to go the full seven innings - no run rule. Still, Chardon put together a lot of very good at bats. In the fist game, Phil Navatsyk singled, doubled and scored twice, Jack LaMarca doubled and drove in two runs. Andrew Frey had a couple more hits. Kevin Bernay singled and doubled as he hit shots all over the ball park all afternoon. Rodney Lewis continued to swing the bat well with a couple of opposite field shots and Corey Hites seems to be seeing the ball better as he drilled a shot to right center for a hit. The result was a game where Chardon never felt threatened.

The second game was more of the same against a very overmatched Marysville Mitts team. One of the good things about playing up and against great teams over the years is that we've been overmatched ourselves a number of times. It helps you to treat your opponent with a little respect when the shoe is on the other foot. In this one, Kevin Bernay singled, tripled and drove in a couple and Russ Harless had a big two out bases loaded single. Weed got all the runs he needed in the first when Phil Navatsyk walked, stole second and third and then scored on a throwing error. The game's a lot easier to play when your pitchers are throwing strikes and getting ahead in the count.

We're now 23-10 and streaking again. Hopefully, it will continue for a couple of weeks.

Corey Hites threw five shut out innings against a very strong offensive Tallmadge Vipers team and the Blizzard managed to take advantage of some bad hop hits in addition to some line shots to put together an 8-0 five inning run rule victory in the opening round of the Connie Mack Tournament at Cene Park. Jack LaMarca got Chardon on the board in the first inning with a rope to right center for a triple. He then scored when Andrew Frey grounded out hard to short. The third inning proved to be the difference in the game when the top four hitters in the lineup singled and a three base error by the Vipers right fielder led to a four run inning. The way Corey was throwing, you could sense the air being let out of the Tallmadge balloon. The Blizzard added three more in the bottom of the fifth as the game ended on a Russ Harless sacrifice fly. Phil Navatsyk, Jack LaMarca, Dan Belliveau and Kevin Bernay all had two hits a piece for Chardon. Russ Harless added a single and sac fly and Andrew Frey and Ross LaMarca each had an rbi. When Corey's pitching like he was today, we're tough to beat.

The Fairport Skippers No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers threw matching 2 run 5 hitters against a couple of pretty good hitting teams to get the Blizzard off to a 2-0 start in the CABA World Series at Cene Park in Youngstown. The first game was thrown by Corey Hites. Chardon scored four runs to overcome a 2-0 deficit and win 4-2. Corey was tremendous again in holding the Dayton Dodgers hitless in 5 of the 7 innings. Phil Navatsyk got beaned, stole second and went to third on the throw that got away from the shortstop and then scored on a wild pitch to break a 2-2 tie. Dan Belliveau then hit a 400 foot bomb for an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and Corey did the rest. Ross LaMarca had a couple of hits and an rbi as Chardon kept battling and overcame hitting into four double plays in the first four innings.

In the nightcap, Russ Harless was just as impressive as he pounded the strike zone and waited for the Blizzard offense to awaken with a 10 run sixth inning to break open a close ball game and finish an 11-2 run rule victory over the Philadelphia Reds. The big blow in this one was a bases loaded triple by Corey Hites which opened the flood gates and started the roof caving in for the Reds. Dan Belliveau also added a triple. Rodney Lewis doubled and singled. Kevin Bernay singled and doubled. Ross LaMarca doubled. Ryan Weed had a couple of hits and Phil Navatsyk singled, stole a base and drove in a run. 

Lest anyone pooh, pooh these two wins, the Dodgers have had high finishes and big wins over a number of great midwestern teams this year in very good tournaments and the Reds just came off of finishing third in the Sandlott World Series in Nashville last week. Plus, they both beat Rondinelli Tuxedo today in pool play. Rondinelli finished second in last week's Connie Mack losing to 1080 Media in the finals.

One of the trademarks of this summer's Blizzard team has been outstanding defense, game in and game out, especially up the middle. Well, in two of the sloppiest played games of the year, Chardon booted balls, threw balls away, watched balls go between their legs, got late jumps on fly balls and didn't make a couple of tough plays that weren't scored as errors but that would have been made had we been playing our "A game." The result was a blown 4-2 lead in the sixth and a blown 7-5 lead in the seventh in a 9-7 extra inning loss to the Ohio Glaciers and a blown 7-3 lead in the sixth inning against the Michiana Scrappers in a game that was salvaged in the bottom of the seventh when Ross LaMarca hit a walk off home run for an 8-7 win. Zach Persky and John Weiss both deserved to get wins but, alas, neither came away with a decision for their 96 and 102 pitch efforts. The Blizzard's offense kept them in both games and almost was enough to pull out two wins instead of one. In all fairness, the Glaciers scored seven runs in the last three innings on a series of bloops and dinks mixed in with a couple of hard hit balls without the aid of any Blizzard errors. However, only 4 of the 7 Michiana runs were earned so Chardon had a hand in giving away three of the runs and also in prolonging innings and running up the pitch count of Mr. Weiss. Oh well, it's good to get these games out of the way in pool play rather than in the championship bracket.

Offensively, everyone contributed top to bottom. Ten different guys drove in runs for the Blizzard. Offense wasn't the problem in either game and Chardon did a great job in driving the big, left handed Division One pitcher, Todd Kibby, from the Glacier game. We hit and pitched well enough to win two. Hopefully, all of the sloppy is out of our system because we can't win this tournament without our A game. 

Well, Phil Navatsyk and Coach Navatsyk get to attend Phil's graduation party. The only way that was going to happen was if the Blizzard lost two straight in the double elimination bracket. Neither Phil nor Coach were interested in that happening but baseball "the game we've chosen to play" did it again as Chardon lost a gut wrenching 5-4 extra inning affair in the first game and then got hammered by run rule 10-0 in the second game. You know that you're in a good tournament when the lower seeds win every game played in the double elimination bracket. That's what happened in the first round of the double elimination bracket and in 2 of the 4 games in the second round. Unfortunately, one of the games that it didn't happen was the 10-0 shellacking of the Blizzard by the North Coast Vipers - the number one seed who lost their opening game to the number 8 seed, Summit City Sluggers. Watching the size and speed of the Sluggers, it is hard to believe that they were 2-4 in pool play in this tournament yet still managed to squeak in at the 8 seed. To give you an idea of the strength of this field, Rondinelli Tuxedo, who finished second in the Connie  Mack, was 1-5 and most of them were run rule losses. In addition to the Blizzard dropping their first two games, so did the highly touted Ohio Glaciers, who added to their roster 3 or 4 Division One pitchers to bolster their already tough staff. It didn't matter as the 5-8 seeds won all the first round games and the 6 and 8 seeds also won their second round games.

We're not even going to talk about the gory details other than to say that we finished 28-16 against some of the best players in Ohio and the mid-west. After the game, Coach Navatsyk talked about loyalty - a lost character trait in our culture and a chapter in the book. He talked about never having open tryouts, never asking a kid who played for him to not come back and never going out and recruiting or stealing other teams' players - yet still being able to compete with 95% of the teams still playing baseball at this age. He talked about how it sometimes costs you something to be loyal - that there may appear to be, or in actuality are, greener pastures elsewhere. He talked about the importance of being loyal to family and friends.

Coach also talked about the greatness and difficulty of the game of baseball and the amount of hard work that will be involved for anyone to play at the next level. He talked about having to be able to deal with failure even though you do everything right - like hit line drives to end innings with the tying and winning runs in scoring position - which happened in both the seventh and eighth innings of the first loss of the day.

It's been a great nine year run which has been chronicled on this website. Some people (a lot of people - including probably most of Coach Navatsyk's family and friends) may think it's been over the top. But for those who've invested - the relationships are forever and the life lessons of competing with passion - without losing your soul - are priceless.  Unfortunately, we did not have a Hollywood type ending. But that's baseball and one thing is for sure - the game of baseball is not Hollywood. Also, it is not for the faint of heart.

 Let It Snow!!!!