The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
OHSAA announces championship locations
Football, baseball state game locations named
The OHSAA began Valentine’s Day deciding where the state championships for football and baseball will be held. Mark Podolski has the details on the latest announcement.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced on Feb. 14 venues for the 2019 state football championship games and the state baseball tournament.
The state football championship games will be held at Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, where in 2018 Kenston (Division III) and Kirtland (Division VI) were crowned state champions.
OHSAA voted, 8-0, to keep the football games in Canton.
Canton hosted the state championship games in 2017 and 2018 after the finals were held at Ohio Stadium in Columbus in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“We have a great site in Canton for the football finals and we are pleased to return there in December,” said OHSAA executive director Jerry Snodgrass in a statement. “We will continue to talk with Ohio State and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission about hosting in the future, but we wanted to make a decision this winter regarding 2019 and we would need more time to come to an agreement with Columbus.”
Also on Feb. 14, the OHSAA board voted, 8-0, to move the state baseball tournament from its usual spot — Huntington Park, home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers — to Canal Park, home of the Double-A Akron Rubberducks.
The decision to move the tournament to Akron was due to a scheduling conflict at Huntington Park.
“The Clippers and Huntington Park have been great hosts, but our baseball season is a week later now and it conflicts with the Clippers’ 2019 home schedule,” said Snodgrass. “We looked at many sites, but for several reasons, including similar schedule conflicts at other locations, we believe that Canal Park is the best choice.”