CHAMPIONS-- Stark County Terriers

RUNNER UP-- Grand Rapids Brewers

BATTING CHAMPION-- Alex Stegman, T3 Warhawks

MVP-- Breydan Cavey, Stark County Terriers

Championship Game Final Score-- Stark Co. Terriers 9  Grand Rapids Brewers 5

Sandusky, OH – The 38th NABF College World Series consisted of 10 teams from the Midwest and Eastern United States. Jasper Reds were from Indiana, Grand Rapids Brewers, Wyoming Nationals, and Byron Center Killer Bees representing Michigan, SAYO Gray from New York, and T3 Warhawks, Erie Muffleheads, Stark County Terriers, Toledo Hawks, and Bay Boaters representing Ohio. The 10 teams were up by a pair from the previous year for a 25% increase, making two pools of 5. Each Pool Winner and Runner Up advanced to the Semi-finals that saw the Terriers defeating the Warhawks 4-3 in 11 innings and the Brewers outslugging the Hawks 11-7. So, Stark County and Grand Rapids were once again facing each other in the championship with the first matchup going to the Brewers 11-2 after the Terriers ran out of pitching.

This time around Stark County got out to an early lead and had enough arms in the bullpen to take down Grand Rapids 9-5. John Bufford Jr. was given the ball to start for the Terriers on two days’ rest, who struck out Malcolm Gaynor, Dominick Cowdrey, and Spencer Verburg.

Stark County’s bats were hot in the first when they scored three times off Brewers starter Jeremy Marble. Ben Lefebvre reached on a double and motored to third on Shea Simmer’s single. On the first pitch, Davis Burick hits a single to drive in Lefebvre, making it 1-0 Terriers. Following Lane Marshall reaching on a Joe Kelley error at first, JC Philippi brought home a pair on a base hit.

The Brewers cut the deficit to two in the second with the help of playing small ball. Jared Bujdos led off with a double who was moved up on a Luke LaCross sacrifice bunt. Then, Kelley drove Bujdos home with a sacrifice fly to make a 3-1 Stark County.

Bufford Jr. continued to look in control on the mound by setting down Payton Young, Gaynor, and Cowdrey in order. Then, the Terriers added another run in the fourth on a two-out single to right center field by Breydan Cavey to drive in his 10th run of the NABF World Series.

The Terriers inserted Jordan Shearer to pitch the fourth, where he retired Kitchen and Verburg on 10 pitches, but a walk to Bujods led to a LaCross two-run blast, making it a 4-3 game. They scored two in Stark County’s half to have a three-run advantage again. Evan Swan got aboard on a walk and two batters later, Simmer reached on a drawing error by Marble to have runners at second and third. Grand Rapids decided to intentionally walk Burick to load the bases, which backfired as Marshall drew an RBI walk with a balk allowing Simmer to score.

Shearer recorded two outs in the fifth but issued a pair of walks and hit a batter to load the bases for the Brewers. Ben Mohler entered to get the final out of the frame by striking out Verburg, meaning Grand Rapids wasted an opportunity to cut into the deficit.

The Terriers jumped to a 7-3 lead on left fielder Andrew Micale’s solo shot he hit over the left field fence, and the bullpen took care of the rest. Mohler allowed a lead-off single to Bujodos in the sixth but sent down the next three to retire the side.

In the seventh, Mohler gave up a two-out Cowdrey solo blast which cut it to a 7-4 game. Christian Harris ended the inning by producing a Verburg fly out to Micale in left field. 
 
Leatherman, who worked the sixth for Grand Rapids, came back out for the seventh and walked Swan, which led to a Simmer RBI knock. The Brewers got a run closer when Kelley hit a 1-3 ground out to drive in Bujdos from third.

The Terriers added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out RBI knock from their speedy centerfielder Lefebvre, making it a 9-5 advantage. Harris picked up two outs on the first three he faced in the final frame but allowed a Gaynor base hit which gave way to Spencer Atkins, who struck out Kitchen, giving the Terriers the NABF College World Series Championship. Stark County players began heading to the mound from their position on the field and from the third base dugout to celebrate as a team.  

NABF President Connie Brown presented the Grand Rapid Brewers with the Runners Up trophy and then gave the Stark County Brewers the Championship hardware. Then, the MVP and Batting Champion were awarded to Breydan Cavey – .444 (8/18), 1 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, and 4 R – and Alex Stegman of T3 Warhawks – .500 (6/12), 2 2B, 5 RBI, and 4 R.