By MITCHELL WOOD

PARMA (April 25)—Cuyahoga County Community College men’s baseball is having an historic season. Unbeaten in 34 straight games, the Triceratops want to wrap up their regular season by defeating their crosstown rivals, the Bryant & Stratton College Bobcats, in the final regular-season series for Tri-C.

There’s a lot riding on the outcome of the four-game series, which begins on Saturday with a doubleheader (12 noon, 2 pm) at Ron Mottl Field in Parma.

While Tri-C has already wrapped up the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference regular season title with a 20-0 mark, the Triceratops are vying for one of the top finishes in Region XII, Division II of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) as well. Henry Ford College (24-7), Lansing Community College (27-9) and Tri-C (35-5) are also in the running for the top slots. The top teams will host early action in the NJCAA Region XII tournament – a national qualifier tournament – on May 8-9.

(See links below)

https://www.occac.org/sports/bsb/2024-25/standings

https://region12.prestosports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/standings

During their 2023-24 regular-season clashes, the Bryant & Stratton and Tri-C played four regular games and split the series with two wins apiece. Tri-C ultimately gained the upper hand, defeating the Bobcats in the 2024 Ohio Community College Athletic Conference championship, 15-7. But that was last year.

LISTEN IN – Hear Coach Kyle Stahlberg talk about opposing Bryant & Stratton here (assist to Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days”):

Bobcats Head Coach Austin Szemacs quickly forgot about the loss. He admitted, “The most important thing in baseball, especially as a head coach, is being where our feet are. We’ve got to win the pitch in front of us.”

Despite that, Tri-C head coach Kyle Stahlberg expects the Bobcats to come into the series with a chip on their shoulders.

“They are really well coached,” Stahlberg says. “I know they want to come in and beat us, having played us in the championship, they want to come get it.”

In the upcoming series, Stahlberg wants his team to forget about the rivalry and slow things down. He added, “We try and break these games down into smaller victories, taking each pitch, each out, each at-bat one at a time.”

Tri-C is the new Murderer’s Row, with a team batting average of .370, an on-base percentage of .514, and a .565 slugging percentage. Jackson Boles (.444 batting average, 8 HRs, 53 RBIs), Kohan Merritt (.415 batting average, 40 RBIs) and Diddy Farrell (.442 average, 29 RBIs) are among the team leaders.

Bryant and Stratton comes into the series with a .302 batting average. Despite the difference in statistics, the Bobcats are playing in hot form. Thus far in April, they won 10 of 14 games, scoring 49 runs in their last four games. In those 14 games, Hudson Gerken has been a standout hitter for the Bobcats. In that stretch, he has a .451 batting average with 20 RBIs. Gavin McLane (.385), Kalayso Shaw (.347) and Brody Puchmajer (.327) are the other major hitting threats.

With a 22-0 record in conference games, Tri-C has comfortable hold on first place in the OCCAC. Bryant & Stratton sits third with a 12-8 conference record. The question is: Will the Tops be able to sweep their crosstown rival and extend their win streak? Or will the Bobcats avenge their 2024 OCCAC championship loss and snap the longest baseball win streak in Ohio?

Szemacs hopes to end it. He explained, “The biggest keys would be winning the bookends of each game. Get out to an early lead and stay on the gas.” The Bobcats know that taking down the conference leader will take near perfection.

Even with the Bobcats recent offensive surge, Stahlberg believes his pitchers and defense can shut them down. He explained, “Beating a great team like Bryant & Stratton will take a complete game on the defensive side, and making sure our pitchers pound the zone.”

Games one and two of this series will take place Saturday, April 26, at Ron Mottl Field. Smee Sports will be carrying the game live. Here’s a link to tune in: https://www.youtube.com/@SmeeSports/streams

On Sunday, the two teams travel to Cisar Field in Solon for the remaining games.

Mitchell Wood is a student in Cuyahoga Community College’s MJS 2070 Sports Reporting class. He wrote this as one of his class assignments.