CVCA, Manchester baseball teams ready for league showdown
By Jeff Gorman
CUYAHOGA FALLS — PAC-7 league baseball rivals Manchester High School and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (CVCA) will meet twice next week.
Manchester will be the home team April 30, and CVCA will be at home May 2. Both games will begin at 4:30 p.m.
CVCA began its week with an 8-1 win over Western Reserve Academy April 17. Senior David Fox pitched six innings and struck out eight batters. The run he surrendered was unearned. At the plate, Josh Kopcsik and Dan Wides each hit a two-run homer.
Two days later, CVCA improved its record to 9-2 with a 12-6 win at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. The Royals led 10-0 in the top of the third inning.
Kyle Silk got the win for CVCA. He pitched into the fifth inning and gave up three runs.
“He had good stuff,” said Royals coach Jerry Cowley. “He has had four good starts, and we’ve won three of those games. He’s 1-1, but he should be 3-1.”
Silk recently committed to Case Western Reserve University, where he plans to study engineering.
CVCA banged out 17 hits in the win over the Irish. Fox collected five hits and three RBI.
“We just had it that night,” said Cowley. “Our pitching and hitting have been solid. We just need to work on our defense and get some kinks ironed out.”
The Royals are 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the PAC-7 (as of April 19).
“Everyone in the league has at least one loss, so it’s wide open this year,” said Cowley.
Manchester won at Tuscarawas Valley High School 1-0 April 18. Junior Nick Ball was masterful on the mound, surrendering just two hits.
“Nick had a no-hitter going until the sixth inning,” said Manchester coach Roger Taylor. “He kept the hitters off-balance.”
At the plate, Manchester (3-4, 2-2, as of April 19) collected 11 hits but only pushed across one run in the fourth inning. Colin Keim, Kevin Nash and Bobby Banner had two hits apiece.
“We had runners on base in every inning,” said Taylor. “I’m glad we were able to score one. We left 14 on base.”
Manchester then played Garfield High School under the lights at Summit Lake April 19, losing 6-2.
“We got in trouble by giving up four runs in the first inning,” said Taylor.
One night later, Manchester engaged in a wild slugfest with Lake Center Christian that still hasn’t ended. The game was suspended due to darkness in the seventh inning with the score tied 17-17.
“The umpire had a very tight strike zone, so there were a lot of walks,” said Taylor. “At the end, it was so dark that you couldn’t see who was on the mound.”
Banner, Keim and sophomore Ben Richards all hit home runs for Manchester, while Ball added three hits.
The two teams will finish the game at a later date after making up a previously rained-out game.
CVCA will have the experience advantage in its games against the Panthers.
“They are leading the pack right now, and they have 11 seniors,” said Taylor. “We are a young team with four juniors and no seniors. We just need to play a lot and gain experience and confidence.
“The good news,” he added, “is that all of our kids will be back next year, and many will return the year after that.”
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