Sweet Revenge: Archbishop Hoban beats Chardon in Division I baseball district semifinals

CANTON, Ohio – Archbishop Hoban players might have tried to downplay just how important it was that Chardon was their opponent on Tuesday in the OHSAA Division I district semifinals at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.

But the smile that came across sophomore Jordan Kievman’s face when talking about being on the mound for the final out of Hoban’s 9-4 win said it all.

“Oh, it felt amazing,” Kievman said. “I felt that adrenaline rush. I was so hyped just to get that last out. And then once it happened, I might have acted calm but inside I was blowing up.”

After losing the Division II state championship game 8-5 a year ago to the Hilltoppers, Hoban players came in wanting to exact some revenge. The Knights came out swinging right from the start, putting three runs on the board in the first inning.

Junior outfielder Parker Falkenstein led off with a double, followed by an Andrew Karhoff single. Kievman drove in Falkenstein with a single, Nate Shimmel singled to score Karhoff and Zack Zimmerman brought in Kievman with a single.

The Knights added a run in the second when Masud Jennings led off by getting hit by a pitch, stole second and then scored on a fielder’s choice.

And then in the third with Leo Wilson on second after an error on Chardon, Falkenstein drove him in with a drive to the gap in right center for a double that was misplayed and allowed Falkenstein to come around and score as well to give Hoban a 6-0 lead.

Sophomore Andrew Karhoff started on the mound for the Knights and allowed just one hit and one walk through the first two innings while striking out four. But Chardon was able to get four runs across in the third to cut the Knights’ lead to 6-4.

Kievman came in and finished the game for Hoban, allowing just one hit and a pair of walks over the final four innings and he induced a double play ball in each of the last two innings.

“We had two 16-year-olds that I'm not sure if they can drive to the games yet giving us really good innings,” Hoban head coach Derek Carmichael said. “Jordan’s just steady, man. He can throw three pitches for us. Karhoff didn’t have his best stuff today, but he battled.”

Hoban’s offense went back to work in the late innings, adding insurance runs in its final two at-bats.

Kievman led off the sixth with a single and then came home on a triple by junior Michael Ciavolella, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Shimmel. When Ciavolella reached third base, he let out a loud roar as he pumped his fists.

“I can say for me personally, that was just everything bottled up and that just it came out,” Ciavolella said. “That was probably one of the bigger at-bats that I've had this year if not the biggest. In the moment, it was the top of the sixth and it was a two-run game and I think that closed the door. I think that was the dagger.”

For good measure, the Knights scored a final run in the seventh when Karhoff grounded out to score Jennings, who led off the inning with a single.

While beating Chardon was sweet for the Knights, they also would have been ready to play any team that stepped on the field with them on this day.

“If I am really being honest, we did not care who was in that other dugout, we came here today and said, ‘We're not leaving this field a loser,’” Ciavolella said.

But when Ciavolella squeezed the glove in right field for the 21st out, Hoban players came pouring out of the dugout to celebrate and the junior admitted that last season still lingers.

“I mean, obviously, it's still stings a little bit, they beat us last year in the state championship,” Ciavolella said.

Falkenstein knew from the start that the Knights were ready for the challenge and that last season was not going to repeat itself.

“They took it away from us last year, but they weren't gonna take it away from us this year,” Hoban Falkenstein said. “We came out ready. We came out better than them. I mean, we had the fire in our eyes.”