Alliance High School baseball season that exceeds expectations ends in OHSAA district semis

STRUTHERS — After catching just about every inning over the past four seasons, Alliance senior Ryan Bruni was hoping for at least seven more.

But a flat start against Ursuline in Monday’s Division II district semifinal game at Bob Cene Park ended the Aviators’ season one win short of 20.

The second-seeded Aviators (19-7) lost to ninth-seeded Ursuline, 8-2. Last week, the Irish (15-12) qualified for the district by ousting top-seeded Poland.

“It’s a grind to get here,” Bruni said. “Baseball, honestly, means (so much) to me. (It’s) just a passion for me.

“Coming up and being able to play for my hometown means a lot,” said Bruni will play for Walsh University next season while majoring in special education. “I’m going to give 110% at Walsh – can’t wait,”

Bruni had three of the eight hits the Aviators mustered. One was a RBI double.

Sophomore DiAngelo Fisk had three hits and senior Nate Butt had the other two. They scored the Aviators’ runs in the final at-bat. Sophomore Bo Davis had the other RBI.

The Irish jumped on Davis for two runs in the first inning and three more in the second.

The Aviators committed an error in each of the first five innings.

Ursuline starter Anthony Triveri retired the first seven Aviators then allowed no runs until the seventh.

“We dug ourselves a hole in those first two innings that we just couldn’t get out of,” Alliance coach Jeff Graffice said. “[Triveri] did a great job, he wouldn’t let us out of it. The pitcher threw strikes and they made plays behind him.

“Five errors against a good baseball team like Ursuline is not going to win a game.”

Bruni said Triveri “had a good 12-6, fastball had a good run on it [side-to-side) — all-around good pitcher. He was commanding the zone very well.”

Graffice told his players the loss should not take away from the good memories produced this spring.

“Our season can’t be defined by today,” Graffice said. “We won back-to-back league championships.”

Graffice said the Aviators pitchers began the season with no experience but blossomed into Eastern Buckeye champions (9-1 league record).

“Coming into the season, we had lost every pitcher that we had on last year’s team,” Graffice said.

“So we were thinking if we could go .500, we might be doing alright,” he said, laughing. “But the kids stepped up and I can’t ask for more from them. They (went) above and beyond their expectations.”

Bruni called the steps the new pitchers took “amazing. Yeah, they’re young but they are really good pitchers and they know how to command the zone.

“It’s exciting to see what they are going to do in the future.”

Also graduating are Chris Hall, Sam Gress, K’Vaughn Davis, and Zyler James.

“Ryan’s probably caught every game for four years, — poor kid,” Graffice said. “He’s been taking a beating back there.

“Nate [outfielder], K’Vaughn [outfielder], Sammy Gress [first baseman] — they wanted to go out on top in our league, and they did.

“They can’t be disappointed in how they played.”

CJ Frasco scored four runs for the Irish. His two hits included a RBI triple in the second inning. Triveri’s two hits included a double.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Alliance High School baseball season that exceeds expectations ends in OHSAA district semis