MEDINA — Hillsdale coach Jason Snow rolled the dice Tuesday afternoon and Jake Hoverstock made the gamble pay off in a big way.
Hvoerstock, Hillsdale’s No. 2 pitcher, went the distance in the Falcons’ 13-5 win over No. 5 Rittman in the lidlifter of a Division IV district semifinal doubleheader at Medina High School.
Hillsdale (19-7) will try to defend its district title against top-seeded Dalton at 5 p.m. Thursday in Medina. Dalton rallied for a dramatic 4-3 walk-off win in Tuesday’s nightcap.
Thanks to Hoverstock, the Falcons will have ace Nick Kandel on the mound Thursday and a well-rested bullpen behind him. Hoverstock threw 92 pitches in the complete-game victory, scattering six hits while striking out eight and walking three. He improved to 5-1 on the season.
“It’s a stressful thing, because if it goes the wrong way then everyone (second-guesses you),” Snow said of the decision to go with Hoverstock. “We went through this in 2019 with Jay Luikart. Jay wanted his full rest and Garrett Goodwin throws a no-hitter to win 1-0.”
Hillsdale’s offense made sure Tuesday’s game wouldn’t be a repeat of that 2019 district semifinal nailbiter.
The Falcons scored two in the first thanks to a two-run single by Braylen Jarvis and four more in the second on a bases-loaded walk by Max Vesper, a fielder’s choice ground ball off the bat of Hoverstock, a Rittman error and an RBI-groundout by Daniel Painter.
“It’s definitely easier to pitch with a lead,” Hoverstock said of the early cushion. “You know that one mistake won’t hurt you.”
The Falcons extended the lead to 8-0 in the fourth. Hoverstock stroked a two-out double and scored on Painter’s single to right. Painter would score on Kandel’s triple.
“These guys spend a lot of time swinging on their own and trying to get better,” Snow said. “It’s a lot easier on their defense if we hit lazy fly balls or soft ground balls on the infield. We hit the ball very hard today.”
Hoverstock’s only hiccup came in the top of the fifth. Rittman (12-14) scored all five of its runs to cut Hillsdale’s advantage to 8-5.
“I just couldn’t throw strikes in that inning and when I did, they hit the ball and we made a couple of errors,” Hoverstock said. “It helped that we were able to respond in the bottom of the inning.”
Hillsdale matched Rittman with five runs in the home half of the fifth to push the lead to 13-5. David Parker delivered the big hit, a three-run double to the base of the wall in left.
“It just shows we have a lot of fight,” Hoverstock said of Hillsdale’s fifth-inning response. “We aren’t going to go down easily.”
Hoverstock settled down to retire six of the final seven batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings. He coaxed a flyout to Kandel in center to end the game.
Kandel led the way offensively with four hits and two runs batted in. Jarvis had three hits and knocked in a pair while while Painter knocked in two and scored three runs. Parker, Jack Fickes and Owen Hoffman each scored two runs.
The Falcons will play in the district title game for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Hillsdale lost twice to Wayne County Athletic League rival Dalton during the regular season.
“They beat us twice, so that is enough motivation for us to come out ready to play,” Snow said. “We’ll see if we can turn the tables and win a district championship.”
