LAKEWOOD — The stars came out when the sun went down at Lakewood Field.
They came out just in time for Olmsted Falls.
The Bulldogs beat Normandy, 4-3, in a Division I district semifinal game Tuesday. They did so in spite of seven seniors, most of them starters, sitting on the bench for the first five or six innings for disciplinary reasons.
The disciplined players got in the game just in time to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull out the victory. John Czechowski’s two-run double tied the score. Pinch hitter Buddy Gerus’ two-out, bad-hop single scored pinch runner Mike Abraham with the go-ahead run.
The victory lifted Olmsted Falls (16-13) into a district championship game Thursday. The Bulldogs will play
St. Ignatius, an 11-1 winner over Lakewood on Tuesday, at 5 p.m.
Olmsted Falls made its victory tougher than it needed to be because a large chunk of the school’s senior class decided not to go to school Monday. The seven players showed up at practice, but were sent home by coach Richard Szalay.
“School policy is if you don’t come to school you don’t get to practice,” Szalay said. “My policy is if you don’t practice, you don’t get to start. It was a good lesson for everybody. You have to put your team first.
“We got them in there anyway, and they all contributed,” Szalay added. “They had their chances and they came through.”
Cam Trefny, a sophomore shortstop recently promoted from the junior varsity, started the sixth with a walk. Ryan Evans, in his first at-bat of the night, singled ahead of Czechowski’s double that hit high off the fence in right-center field.
Czechowski was out in a rundown off Chuck Reimer’s grounder behind the mound. Czechowski was hung up long enough to allow Reimer to get to second base. A fly ball to center was followed by Gerus’ bouncer up the middle that hit the rim of the synthetic surface and bounced off shortstop Bobby Wypasek’s glove and into center field, letting Abraham come home with the tiebreaking run.
Matt Ballinger pitched a perfect seventh inning, striking out the last two batters, to preserve the victory and give the Bulldogs a shot at the state’s No. 2-ranked team.
“I’m just happy we won,” Szalay said. “We’re looking forward to playing in the district final. We want to see what we can do against Ignatius.”
Normandy ended its year with a 10-15 record.
“We battled,” said Mike Louis, Normandy’s first-year coach. “We are young, for the most part. I think we’ll be a team to reckon with next season.”
Colton Wetherwax hit Olmsted Falls starting pitcher Charlie Trefny’s second offering over the fence in right field to give the Invaders a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs tied it in their half of the first after Cam Trefny singled and Czechowski doubled to left-center with two out.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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