MACEDONIA — Somewhere in the mix of rankings and results, Jackson High School baseball coach Bill Gamble just wanted his Polar Bears to find the "best version" of themselves this season.
Looks like the boys in purple have figured that out.
Jackson rode the big left arm of Landen Doll to a 3-0 win Thursday against GlenOak in the Division I district final at Nordonia's Bernie Hovan Memorial Field. It is the Polar Bears' first district championship since winning six straight from 2014-19.
"They were outside the fence watching the last time we did this," Gamble said about his current Polar Bears. "They were growing up in our youth program, growing up wanting to be those guys. So they saw it. They knew they could do it. They believed in our plan. But at the end of the day, they had to execute and believe and trust in each other."
The Polar Bears (22-7), who ranked as high as No. 2 in the coaches association's state poll early in the season, lost four straight and five of six games in the first half of April. Two of those losses came to rival Hoover , which happens to be Jackson's opponent in the May 30 regional semifinal at Oberlin College. The Vikings thumped Mayfield 9-2 Thursday in a district final at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.
The Polar Bears have rebounded in a major way, losing only twice since that tough stretch and earning at least a share of the Federal League championship. They can clinch the league title outright by winning at GlenOak in a rescheduled regular-season game Friday.
What exactly is this best version of Jackson?
"It's pitching and playing defense," Gamble said. "No. 1, we're built on that."
To that point, Jackson has not allowed a run in three tournament games.
"And we've got to be able to extend innings at the plate and make the other pitcher work really hard," Gamble added. "Find a way to get a crooked number in there."
The No. 1 seed Polar Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with RBIs on Eric Freetage's ground out and fellow senior Kyle Benson's sacrifice fly. Freetage added an insurance run in the fifth when he blooped a two-out RBI single just over the head of GlenOak's third baseman.
That proved to be plenty of support for Doll.
The 6-foot-3 lefty, a Marshall University commit, struck out 13 and allowed only three hits over 6.1 innings to improve to 4-1. One of the hits came on a fairly routine fly ball that two Jackson outfielders allowed to drop because of a miscommunication. Another came on a bunt single by Bryce Broom.
"I'm a junior. I have one more year," Doll said. "I'm just fighting for the guys that this is their last year of baseball. It means a lot to get to play another baseball game with these guys and do my job."
The main source of stress on Doll came in the five walks he issued and the one batter he hit.
"The walks got on me for some reason today," Doll said. "But strikeouts made up for it."
He isn't kidding. In each of the first four innings, Doll fanned a batter for the final out with Golden Eagles in scoring position.
Doll, who mixes a curveball and change-up with a fastball that reaches the upper 80s, was shelved for a couple of weeks earlier in the season because of a sore arm. He looked 100% healthy Thursday.
"Doll just did a fantastic job," Gamble said. "That's the Landen Doll we got at the beginning of the year. ... You saw it today."
The Golden Eagles applied pressure the entire game. The biggest scare they gave Jackson came in the top of the seventh.
GlenOak had two on with one out thanks to a Jackson error and the Broom bunt. With Doll at 115 pitches, Gamble brought in junior reliever Cole Baker to face 3-hole hitter Jerry Alexander.
Alexander hammered a hanging 2-2 curveball to deep left, causing a few gasps in the Jackson crowd. But Benson tracked the ball and caught it just a few feet in front of the wall for a loud second out.
"I thought it had a chance. I thought, 'Oh man, here we go again,'" said GlenOak coach Ray Frisbee, referring to Jackson Boles' grand slam in the Golden Eagles' 7-6 district semifinal win against Nordonia on Tuesday.
Said Gamble, "That's a dangerous lineup, man. Top to bottom."
Baker then induced a ground ball out to end the game and send the Polar Bears piling on each other in celebration.
The No. 12 seed Golden Eagles, who played in their first district final in 11 years, fell to 14-13.
"Doll is a heckuva pitcher," Frisbee said "We just couldn't get the big hit. We had a runner in scoring position in six of the seven innings. Tip of the hat to him. That was a heckuva performance in a big game."
His counterpart, GlenOak senior Johnathan Birchler, was pretty good, too. After getting the two-out save in Tuesday's semifinal, Birchler (4-3) limited Jackson to five hits in six innings.
Jackson and GlenOak will have to see what they have left in the tank for Friday's regular-season game. The Golden Eagles (7-3 in league) can keep their league title hopes alive, along with 7-3 Hoover's, by beating Jackson (9-2).
"We're going to enjoy this tonight," Gamble said. "My coffee is going to taste really good in the morning. Then we're going to turn the page."
Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Jackson baseball's 'best version' is district title-worthy | Polar Bears down GlenOak
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