Canton, OH- In a transition year for the NABF College World Series and the Stark County Terriers, the 3-time defending champions found a way to keep their domination going as they knocked out the #3 seed Canton Class A’s and the #1 seed Mountaineer Lumber Company en route to their fourth title in a row.
This year marks the first time the NABF College World Series, along with the 16U and 18U World Series, were played in the Canton area. All of the College World Series games were held at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium, the home of the Canton McKinley Bulldogs and the former home of the Terriers. After two days of pool play, the Mountaineer Lumber Company and Stark County Terriers were 3-1. With one spot remaining, the Canton Class A’s snuck in due to the Jasper Reds losing 11-1 to the B2 Bulls late Saturday night.
In the semifinals, Nolan Kellicker started the game on the mound for Stark County while Jaxon Monnard began the game for the A’s. Both pitchers had 1-2-3 first innings. In the second, Canton had runners at the corners with two outs, but Cade Marks flew out to left field to end the frame. At the bottom of the inning, Josh DeZenzo drove in the opening run on a sacrifice fly. Gavin Marceric drove in the second run of the frame on an RBI single hit into left field. Through two innings, the Terriers held a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the third, the A’s would get their first run of the day courtesy of Chris Maurer. The rising junior at Mount Union sent the ball into right field for an RBI single. Brett Moore would keep the Terriers on top as he gloved a hard-hit ball, forcing a 4-6-3 double play. Stark County restored their two-run lead in the bottom of the inning as Kaiden Mastri’s pop-up fell into shallow right field. However, the big breaking point came with two on and one down. DeZenzo stepped back in for the second time and launched a three-run homer over the left center field wall. With one swing of the bat, the Terriers led 6-1. Bradyn Canter would come into the game moments later to replace Monnard, closing out the third.
The Canton Class A’s would have the bases loaded at the top of the fourth inning, but Kellicker was able to strike out Brady White to get out of the jam. In the bottom of the inning, Mastri drove in another run on a clean swing into left field. However, the A’s would get the final out of the inning on an excellent throw home. However, the replay showed the runner appeared to be safe. Either way, the controversial call ended the fourth inning with the Terriers up 7-1. The score would remain the same heading into the bottom of the sixth inning until Luke Senften drove in Kellicker. Heading into the final half inning, it was 8-1 in favor of Stark County.
With their backs against the wall, the Canton Class A’s fought hard to stay in the game. The first run of the seventh would come in on a passed ball, making it 8-2. William Feser, in his second inning of work after replacing Kellicker, would have the bases loaded behind him. The third run of the game would come in on a balk. By MLB and NABF rules, a balk is a live ball. While it was put into play via the bat, it was still live. With two down, Nathan Johnson would drive in a pair of runs. Up by three, the Terriers would find the final out on a routine flyout to centerfield. Stark County would advance to the NABF College World Series Championship Game with an 8-5 win over the Canton Class A’s.
In the championship game, defense told the story. Keagan Gilbride and Ty Dennison would combine for 12 strikeouts, with Gilbride pitching seven innings while Dennison stayed in the whole game. With the score 0-0 in the top of the fifth, Kellicker would drive in two runs on an RBI double smashed into deep right field. The Mountaineer Lumber Company would have their chances to get on the board, but the defense of the Terriers was too much. In the top of the ninth inning, Senften would drive in another pair to give the defense some insurance. With one out two go in the bottom of the ninth, Dennison had Will Taigen in a full count with two runners on. Without an out here, Dennison’s day would be done. However, he found his 9th strikeout and sealed the 4-0 victory for Stark County.
The Mountaineer Lumber Company had a total of four hits in the championship game. Taigen got the first hit of the game for the Lumber Company in the fourth. Ryan Shimek would hit a ground-rule double in the fifth to follow up Taigen’s single. Finally, Brayden Clark and Dom Trivisano would single in the ninth inning. As for the Terriers, Kellicker and Mastri led the way with two hits each.
This win marks the fourth straight NABF College World Series title for the Stark County Terriers. Former head coach Chris Willoughby, who was the PA announcer for the semifinals and championship, won the first three titles in this stretch. He took over in the 2022 season after the Terriers lost in the championship game in 2021. First-year head coach Rece Sabo took the reins for this season after Willoughby was asked to coach the 15U team for the Terriers. To make it more difficult for Sabo, most of the 2024 squad didn’t return. However, they found a way to get it done in the most important games of the year.
“This whole tournament is tough. Four pool play games, a semifinal game at 9, and if you win that, you go to the championship game at 11. The guys gotta dig deep. You gotta know who you are as a ball player, and the boys rose to the challenge,” remarked Sabo after the win.
Today was a bittersweet day for Braden Broom. The rising senior decided to retire from baseball after three years at Baldwin Wallace. Broom went out on a high, getting a hit in his final at bat along with a number of putouts from shortstop.
Broom gave his closing thoughts on his career as he said, “Thank you to baseball, I will love you forever. I also want to tell the Terriers to go win the next one.”
Looking at the special awards, Nolan Kellicker was awarded the batting title while Ty Dennison won MVP honors. Both played massive roles in this tournament win, especially in the championship rounds, as they were the two winning pitchers. However, the play of the tournament belongs to Dennison. With two outs in the sixth inning and a runner on third, Ty dives backward to retrieve a slow chopper off to his right. His acrobatic throw was just in time, keeping the shutout intact.
“I just saw the ball, I fielded it, then I was like, I have to get this out. They’re going to score if not, so I threw it with everything I had and saw that we made the out and kind of blacked out from there,” Dennison said when asked about the play.
While the official all-tournament teams haven’t been finalized, it has been reported that Daniel Krabill will be on it for the Terriers as he played 1st base, catcher, and as the DH throughout this tournament. Luke Ickes will also be on the team for the Mountaineer Lumber Company. A total of eight hits and 5 RBIs in five games, along with one save, is more than enough to justify the rising junior at Mount Union’s place on the team.
While this year brought about a number of changes for the WRCL, NABF World Series, and the Stark County Terriers, the champs remained the same. Something special is happening with the Stark County Terriers as they now have their sights set on a five-peat.
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