Centennial, Eastmoor seek to end City League title woes
When Eastmoor Academy hosts Centennial in the City League baseball championship game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, droughts will be ending for both teams.
Eastmoor (14-4) last played in the final in 1983, falling to Centennial. The Warriors last won the league crown in 1976.
Centennial (19-7) has reached the title game for the first time since 2011, when it beat Briggs 7-3 for its second consecutive championship.
The Stars went 14-0 in the City-north to end Whetstone’s 12-season reign as the winner of not only the division but the league championship game. Centennial swept the season series with Whetstone, which finished second (12-2) in the City-north.
“Our initial conversation at the beginning of the year, (reaching this game) was our goal,” ninth-year Centennial coach Patrick Nance said. “It wasn’t going to be a hope or a wish or an expectation because we meet expectations, we obtain goals. Our goal was the City title game.”
Eastmoor won the City-south at 13-1. Sixth-year coach Alphonso Meadows Jr. believed the Warriors had a chance to take the division based on the fact they’d won 15 games last season, the most of his tenure.
“With what we had coming back, I thought we had a chance,” he said.
Centennial and Eastmoor met April 3, with the Stars winning 15-0 in five innings as sophomore Jayden Hammond (INF/P) and senior Tyler Bobb (SS/2B/P) combined to pitch a no-hitter.
“We’re super confident going into the title game,” Nance said. “We didn’t throw our best pitchers in the first game and we threw a no-hitter. They’re going to see our best pitcher (sophomore Isaac Putman). It really just depends on which Centennial team shows up.”
Eastmoor has been led on the mound by sophomore Labron Williams, who is 7-0 with a 1.91 ERA.
Senior Lawrence Hairston (LF) has a team-high 26 stolen bases. Senior Kiev West (1B) and junior Savion Watts (CF) have been key players.
Meadows, a 1992 graduate of Eastmoor, also pointed to the contributions of junior Aayden Johnson, who has played all nine positions this season.
“Winning a City League title would bring more recognition to our school, and it’s a sport that I love to play,” Johnson said. “Even if the odds aren’t in our favor, it’s mind over matter. We just have to keep fighting and believe in ourselves and we can get the work done.”
For Centennial, Hammond leads the offense with a .472 batting average, 38
runs scored and 35 RBIS. Bobb is hitting .468 with 35 RBIS and 33 runs scored, and senior Will Putman (C/P) is hitting .420 with 42 runs scored.
“A key has been the development of the kids,” said Nance, who is a 1994 graduate of Whetstone. “POST-COVID, I had 11 kids. Whetstone typically has between 40 and 50 in their program. I’m lucky to be at 26, so I have to develop those players into what they are today because there’s less to choose from.”
Both teams have been eliminated from the OHSAA postseason.
Seeded ninth in the Division II district tournament, Centennial lost to No. 5 Bloom-carroll 10-0 last Tuesday after beating No. 17 Beechcroft 17-1 on May 11 in the first round. Both games went five innings. Seeded 14th in Division II, Eastmoor lost to No. 18 Whitehall-yearling 15-3 in eight innings on May 11. The game was tied at 3 heading into the eighth. fdirenna@dispatch.com @Dispatchfrank