TOP OF THE CROP

Baseball 1:

(1) Westlake 14-2 (2) Avon 14-3 (3) Elyria 12-6 (4) Elyria Catholic 12-5

(6) North Ridgeville 14-5

(5) Columbia 11-5 (7) Firelands 11-8 (9) Avon Lake 10-6 (8) Lorain 11-6 10: (10) Keystone 10-9

Watch list: Wellington (9-6), Amherst (10-11), Brookside (6-7), Open Door (8-6), Olmsted Falls (8-9) Crop comments: Things remained more stable in this week’s Crop. Westlake remains on top despite Avon’s 11-game winning streak. … The Demons’ offense is no joke, as they drew only a nine seed for the OHSAA tournament, with Avon drawing a two seed in the same Brunswick District. Prediction: Westlake will outperform its seed number and make it to the district final at the minimum … Elyria (D-I, 7-seed, Cleveland District) is still ranked No. 3. The Pioneers’ competition in Mingo Bay acted as a weighted factor in their ranking. It also helps when you have Nic Chernitsky making history with Avon’s Gavin Ehrhardt by throwing no-hitters on the same day. … That means the GLC’s Elyria Catholic (D-III, 3-seed, Copley) and North Ridgeville (D-I, 11-seed, Brunswick), another SWC team on an 11-game winning streak, stay at No. 4 and move up a spot to No. 5, respectively. … Columbia (D-IV, 2-seed, Medina) drops a spot in a tough crop. The good news is the Raiders got Cody Davis back in the lineup, a boost to the hopes of repeating as district champs. … The only other team to move up was Avon Lake (D-I, 10-seed, Strongsville). … Keystone (D-II, 18-seed, North Ridgeville) narrowly kept its grip on the final spot. Also factoring into the rationale for Keystone was the Wildcats’ ability to hang tough with North Ridgeville until the sixth inning of a 14-6loss May 5, with the two teams tied 5-apiece going into the sixth. Bert Fitzgerald’s Wildcats are getting some players further seasoning and saving arms for the weekend gave us a glimpse at the promising core that he has in place for the next couple of seasons.