Notebook: Bexley Lions baseball team sets strong foundation under coach Brett Counts

Brett Counts saw the Bexley baseball team make strides in his first season as coach, especially in terms of laying the groundwork for a positive culture.

Finishing 12-12 overall with a roster that had only two seniors, the Lions expect to return the rest of the players from a team that excelled on the mound.

Bexley had a program-record four no-hitters, including three by junior Jon Spiess, a program record for a pitcher. The Lions had six shutouts, led by Spiess’ three.

“We tried to focus on all aspects of the game with a baseball skill session every week (in the offseason),” said Counts, whose team finished third (8-4) in the MSL-Ohio Division behind champion Buckeye Valley (12-0). “We had lifting and conditioning two days a week. We started pitching on Sundays and they had an awful lot of opportunities to improve their skills.

“You look at our team ERA (3.23), batting average (.306) and fielding percentage (.920). That’s good, especially for a first year with what we’re trying to establish.”

Seniors Ryan Bernstein (OF) and Joey Shapiro (C) both were second-team all-league and set the tone for the Lions on and off the diamond. Bernstein batted .291 with nine runs and a team-high 22 RBI.

Shapiro hit .368 with 14 RBI and 24 runs and led the Lions in doubles (6), stolen bases (5) and being hit by a pitch (16). He was hit by a pitch 23 times in his career.

“I think the biggest takeaway was just trying to establish the culture moving forward,” Counts said. “It was a bit of a change for everyone compared to what they were used to doing. The guys know our expectations moving forward.

“The more buy-in that we have, the more successful we’ll be. It really helped having two senior captains like Ryan and Joey to reiterate my principles, and that should help the program be sustained in the future.”

Spiess was honorable mention all-district and MSL-Ohio Player of the Year. He batted .393 with a team-leading four home runs and 25 runs to go with 19 RBI. On the mound, he was 4-2 with a 2.56 ERA, 54 strikeouts and 18 walks in 38 1/3 innings.

“We came together well as a team and we trusted each other,” Spiess said. “If you have trust in your teammates and everyone has each other’s back, you can do well. We had great chemistry with the team and with the coaches.”

Junior Josiah Old (INF/OF/P, first-team all-league) batted a team-high .498 with 15 RBI and 22 runs. He also was 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA, 28 strikeouts and 17 walks in 29 1/3 innings.

Sophomore Cobby Rubin (1B/P, second-team all-league) batted .421 with 19 RBI and 11 runs.

Junior John Laing (OF/P, honorable mention all-league) batted .298 with 10 RBI and 15 runs. He also was 1-0 with a 2.47 ERA, nine strikeouts and three walks in 11 1/3 innings.

Sophomore Stanny Brandt (3B/P) was 1-1 with a 2.47 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 16 walks in 22 2/3 innings.

Juniors Michael Brenner (OF), Jerry Merchant (1B/P) and John Westman (2B) are other starters expected to return, while sophomore Jamie Wright missed the season with a back injury.

•A difficult schedule left the St. Charles lacrosse team wanting more as the Cardinals began to hit their stride late in their season.

The ninth-seeded Cardinals finished 6-13, losing to second-seeded Hilliard Davidson 12-9 on May 19 in a Division I, Region 3 quarterfinal. They won at sixth-seeded Centerville 11-10 on May 17 to open the postseason.

“We played the eighth-toughest schedule in Division I, according to LaxNumbers,” second-year coach Kyle Andrews said. “We lost a lot of seniors, and it was a big ask of the guys. We lost 160 of our 219 goals from last year.

“But we never quit, and we kept going. Everything came together for us at Centerville. We were down 9-6 in the fourth quarter but the boys believed they could win it, and they did.”

Senior midfielder/attacker Gavin Williams led the team with 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists), and senior midfielder Matt Selan (honorable mention all-region) had a team-high 30 goals with four assists.

Senior attacker Griffin Burkey (honorable mention all-region) and senior midfielder Patrick Cahill both had 16 goals and 11 assists.

Junior midfielder Ty Hamrick (21 goals, 6 assists) and sophomore midfielder/attacker Sean Moore (20 goals, 6 assists) also were key scoring threats.

Sophomore midfielder Jackson Hobbs led with 70 ground balls, and junior midfielder/defender Sam Martin and sophomore midfielder Landon Weihl both had 48 ground balls. Junior defender Adam Budzak had 42 ground balls and junior goalie Reed Bateman had 164 saves with a 53.8 save percentage.

“I was super proud of our effort, and we continued to get better every week,” Andrews said. “We never regressed and kept improving. I’m proud of how we persevered with our tough schedule, and we played well.”

•Despite uncertainty at the beginning of the season, senior Brady Pema of the St. Charles tennis team qualified for the Division I district tournament in doubles with sophomore Victor Roscoe.

A knee injury limited Pema early in the season. He tried singles upon his return but settled on playing doubles to have a better shot at reaching state.

Pema and Roscoe fell just short of that goal, however, losing 6-4, 7-5 in a state-qualifying match against Dublin Jerome’s Max Fickas and Tanish Pairu on May 19 at Olentangy.

Pema and Roscoe defeated Davidson’s Clay Hess and Jinu Kim 6-1, 6-0 in their first match at district.

“Brady had a knee injury and he tried playing singles, but we thought he’d have a better chance in doubles,” first-year coach Costas Alevizopoulos said. “He came back strong, and they almost made it there. They fought hard and I’m very happy for them.”

Pema and Roscoe went 4-0 to win a sectional title May 14 at Hilliard Bradley.

“Brady has experience, and he’s very mature on the court,” Alevizopoulos said. “He matches up well with Victor, who’s up and coming. Brady mentored him on the court, and Victor will do a good job taking his place next year.”

Sophomore Brogan Rogers and freshman Will Kennedy were 1-1 in doubles at sectional, where senior Daniel Ferguson (1-1) and sophomores Billy Harrier (0-1) and Andrew Kane (1-1) played singles.

The Cardinals finished 5-10 overall but won their 10th consecutive CCL championship, going 4-0 in league play.

“I scheduled some tough, bigger schools and we still had a lot of rainouts,” Alevizopoulos said. “We played good competition because I wanted the guys to know that they belonged there and so that they could learn to compete and work on their games.”

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BEXLEY BASEBALL

•Record: 12-12 overall

•MSL-Ohio standings: Buckeye Valley (12-0), Worthington Christian (9-3), Bexley (8-4), Columbus Academy (7-5), Grandview (4-8), Wellington (1-11), Whitehall (1-11)

•Seniors lost: Ryan Bernstein and Joey Shapiro

•Key returnees: Stanny Brandt, John Laing, Josiah Old, Cobby Rubin and Jon Spiess

•Postseason: Lost to DeSales 3-0 in second round of Division II district tournament

ST. CHARLES LACROSSE

•Record: 6-13 overall

•CCL standings: DeSales (2-0), Watterson (1-1), St. Charles (0-2)

•Seniors lost: Griffin Burkey, Patrick Cahill, Jackson Congrove, Dom Evangelisti, Will Ferris, Luke Hamrick, Robert Houser, Kellen Karas, Sam Mickey, Erich Schoettmer, Matt Selan, Cooper Tyson and Gavin Williams

•Key returnees: Reed Bateman, Adam Budzik, Ty Hamrick, Jackson Hobbs, Andy Lusky, Sam Martin, Sean Moore and Landon Weihl

•Postseason: Def. Centerville 11-10; lost to Hilliard Davidson 12-9 in quarterfinal of Division I, Region 3 tournament

ST. CHARLES TENNIS

•Record: 5-10 overall

•CCL standings: St. Charles (4-0), DeSales (2-2), Ready (2-2), Watterson (1-2-1), Hartley (0-3-1)

•Seniors lost: Daniel Ferguson and Brady Pema 

•Key returnees: Billy Harrier, Andrew Kane, Will Kennedy, Brogan Rogers and Victor Roscoe

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Bexley baseball team sets strong foundation