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Division IV district champs

Kennedy’s ‘Electric Eleven’ win big to reach regional

Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer The John F. Kennedy Eagles pose with their Division IV district baseball championship trophy following their win over Heartland Christian on Thursday at Cene Park in Struthers.

STRUTHERS — The Kennedy Eagles have a phrase by which they refer to themselves — the “Electric Eleven.” With only 11 players on the roster, the Eagles have proven to beat the odds.

“This is my first season here and even though we only have 11 guys, one senior and six freshmen, they worked their butts off,” Eagles coach James Ciambotti said. “They are special kids that have been brought up the right way, and we have gotten a quarter of the way we want to go.”

On Thursday, the fourth-seeded Eagles erased a two-year-old sour taste in their mouths by winning a Division IV district title with a 10-0, five-inning mercy-rule victory over third-seeded Heartland Christian at Cene Park.

“We lost to Springfield. This means everything. This was our revenge game and we got it. There is no better feeling,” JFK’s lone senior, Cam Hollobaugh, said about the 2019 baseball season.

Hollobaugh limited the Lions to just one hit while striking out seven. He issued only two free passes in the contest. The Lions’ Jake Kling dribbled a single through the left side of the infield in the fifth inning to break up Hollobaugh’s no-hit bid.

“I was thinking about it all day, to be honest. Thinking about what I was going to do. I have been locked in all day,” Hollobaugh said.

“He’s done it in every sport,” Ciambotti said. “It always starts on the mound, on the rubber, and he established the tempo. We got a couple of key hits and took advantage of a couple of their mistakes. But Cam is a super athlete and we wanted him to have the ball in this situation.”

Heartland Christian coach Chris Gault also praised Hollobaugh.

“He is a fantastic player. We knew we were going to see him tonight and we were girding up our strength to face him,” Gault said about Hollobaugh.

“All the best to JFK. They are an excellent opponent. I think they are going to go deep in these playoffs.”

The Lions threatened to get on the scoreboard in the second inning when Nate Garzanich drew a two-out walk and then advanced to third on an error. But Hollobaugh buckled down with a strikeout to strand the two baserunners.

It was the Eagles that got on the scoreboard in the third inning by being patient and drawing three walks. They also took advantage of a dropped ball on a potential double-play.

Caleb Hadley hit an RBI sacrifice fly and Jared Rishel came up with the first of his game-high four RBI’s with a single to center. That gave the Eagles a 3-0 advantage after the third frame.

The Eagles broke the game open in the fourth with two hit batters, a pair of walks, and a dropped pop-up. The Eagles took advantage of Lions’ miscues by pushing five runs across the plate in the inning to increase their advantage to 8-0.

The Eagles reached the mercy-rule margin by scoring twice in the fifth. Michael Mauro drew a bases-loaded walk to score Michael Condoleon who had led off the inning with a single to center. Eagles’ right fielder Rishel then lined a single to right to score Gavin Shrum for the game-ending run.

Rishel was a perfect four-for-four at the plate with singles in the second, third, fourth, and the game-ender in the fifth. He also drove in four of the Eagles’ nine RBI’s on the night.

“I was really seeing the fastball well,” Rishel said. “I was picking it up right out of his hand. We were trying to get them to throw strikes, looking for the right pitch.”

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