Staff photo / Preston Byers Howland’s Santino Minniti reacts after striking out during Monday’s game vs. Canfield at Howland Township Park.

HOWLAND — Entering Monday’s All-American Conference (AAC) clash vs. Canfield, Howland had been as hot as it could be, having won seven in a row, all by at least four runs. But Ryan Weibling and the Cardinals’ momentum ultimately overwhelmed the Tigers once they got on the diamond.

Behind a 13-strikeout performance by Weibling, Canfield beat Howland 4-0, shutting the Tigers out for the first time this season and, in the process, clinching at least a share of the league championship.

“Ryan Weibling pitched a heck of a game. He really did fantastic,” Howland coach Britt Taylor said. “We actually faced him here last year on this field, and we beat him up pretty good. And he just had a great game today.”

After leaving two on in the top of the first inning, Canfield took a one-run lead in the second when Patrick Groner singled to right field, driving in Michael Maszczak, who had drawn a leadoff walk against Howland starter Steven Bubon.

The slim advantage held for several innings, although both teams’ coaches felt they had missed many chances to cross home plate.

For Howland, Richie Ansel was left stranded in the first after a single, and in the second, Santino Minniti was hit by a pitch and then quickly found his way to third base thanks to an off-target pickoff attempt by Weibling. Despite having no outs, the Tigers could not advance Minniti, as Weibling fielded a Deacon Mock groundball and threw Minniti out on a play at home to keep Howland off the scoreboard.

The Tigers again failed to capitalize with baserunners on in the third, when Bode Biggin was caught stealing after earning a leadoff walk. And then in the fourth, Brayden Kovarik led off with a single to shallow center field, and Santino Donatelli singled as well, but an inning-ending strikeout left both runners on base.

“We had runners in scoring positions several times throughout the game. We got down to 3-2 counts, and [Weibling] came up with just the perfect pitch,” Taylor said. “He just did an amazing job for them tonight. I think we’ve got a lot better baseball in us.”

Canfield could not manage much better for a time, as a pair of runners – Weibling and Logan Patellis – were left stranded in the third inning after reaching on an error in the outfield and successfully laying down a bunt, respectively. Then, Bubon retired the side in order in the fourth.

However, the Cardinals added to their lead in the fifth, as Weibling hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Joey Gabriel to take a 2-0 lead. Still, Weibling and Patellis, who doubled to right-center field, finished the half-inning on the bases.

In the fifth inning, Howland could not issue a response and instead left a runner on of its own. The following inning, the Tigers went down in order as Weibling struck out his 12th and 13th batters of the game.

The Cardinals gave Anthony Groner some little-needed cushion for the bottom of the seventh. Gabriel led the inning off by reaching base on an error, and after a passed ball and Weibling being intentionally walked, Patellis singled to the right side of second base to drive in Gabriel. Shortly thereafter, Weibling scored when Patellis successfully baited a throw to second base on an attempted steal, allowing Weibling to beat the throw home and increase the Cardinals’ lead to four.

Relieving Weibling for the seventh, Anthony Groner made quick work of the three batters he faced, striking out the side and earning Canfield its fifth straight win and, more importantly, a share of the AAC championship.

“All year, he’s been dynamite,” Canfield head coach Matt Weymer said of Weibling. “He’s got four great pitches, he moves the ball around the zone. He’s really found a real strong mentality this year. They got a guy on third base there in the second inning with no one out; to work his way out of that was just fantastic. He crossed 100 pitches for the first time in his career tonight, and it was just a real dominant, dominant effort. He’s been great for us all year.

“We feel like we’ve got 1A and 1B or 1A and 1A, I guess, with him and Ant. They’re both just really talented kids. (Weibling) had shown glimpses, and this year he’s just put it all together for us. And any time he gets the ball, we just feel really good about our chances going out there.”

On the day, Weibling allowed just three hits and three walks in six innings pitched. Meanwhile, Bubon, who made it 6 â…” innings and finished with 115 pitches, surrendered four hits, six walks and one earned run while striking out four batters. Elliot Gebhardt also faced one batter in relief of Bubon.

Weather permitting, Canfield (12-7, 6-1 AAC) and Howland (10-4, 3-2 AAC) meet again today in Canfield. The Cardinals can clinch the outright championship by completing the sweep of the Tigers, who, coincidentally, swept the Cardinals a year ago. But in order to retain a chance of sharing the league title, Howland, after its first loss in more than two weeks, must beat Canfield and then sweep Boardman next week.

“We’ve got to do a little bit better with situational baseball, and we’re going to do that; we’ve done it before,” Taylor said. “That’s the beauty of this game; it’s the greatest teacher in the world. You fail seven times out of 10, you’re a Hall of Famer. That’s just the name of the game. You fail, you get back up, and you go out there and do it all over again. So we’ll be fine. I’m anxious to play these guys again tomorrow.”