WICKLIFFE–Wickliffe put together two four-run rallies in an 8-1 win over visiting Chagrin Falls in a Division V district semifinal on Wednesday.
The Blue Devils plated four runs in the third and added four more in the fifth.
“I saw our guys were still confident despite the early results,” said Wickliffe head coach Phil Motta. “In the third, we got more comfortable with the lead than being in a tight game. We’ve got guys with good speed who got on base, and other guys put the bat on the ball and got the runs in.”
Frankie Bucar broke up the scoreless tie with an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the third, and then Liam Widemire crunched a one-out three-run home run for a 4-0 lead after three.
The Tigers got on the board when Will Murray hit a leadoff single, moved to third on an error, and scored on Henry Cimpermans’ sacrifice fly, trimming the Tiger deficit to 4-1 after four.
The Blue Devils rallied again with another four-spot in the fifth that was ignited by a Bucar leadoff single before he scored on a wild pitch.
Cole Vanatta added a two-run single, and Blake Ludvik drove in the final run with an RBI single.
Bucar paced the offense, going 2-for-4 with one RBI, while Widemire went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer, and Vanatta finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Kaden Urban, Alex Aheimer, Dominic Porcello, and Ludvik each collected at least one hit in the win.
Nunzio Zivnoska tossed a gem, going the distance and earning the win, allowing no runs on two hits with three walks and 15 strikeouts.
Wickliffe avenged a 5-0 loss to the Tigers back on April 2.
“I think we’re a completely different team than we were last time,” Bucar said. “We came out here, handled business, and didn’t let anything affect us, and that led to our success today.”
Chagrin Falls wrapped up the 2025 season with a 12-16 record, and in a season where things once felt grim, starting the year 1-6, ending the season going 12-10 is a bright spot for the future.
“When we started the year, we didn’t expect to be very good. We had a lot of injuries and young guys playing, so there were times that were rough at the beginning of the year,” said Chagrin Falls head coach Michael Sweeney. “By the end of the year, we were playing great baseball. Today just wasn’t our day, but that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of these guys for what we’ve accomplished. The way we played (at the end) was far superior to the way we started the year.”
With that kind of season under the belt of this team, which will bring back all but five players for the 2026 season, shows the leadership of the seniors as they exit the program.
“It starts with the seniors. They provided great leadership for all these guys, along with our captain Henry Cimperman,” Coach Sweeney said. “They didn’t let the other guys settle for average, and they wanted to be great. We weren’t always great, but that’s what we strived to be. We just continued to get better and better as the season went on.”
Murray and Nathaniel Newton recorded hits for the Tigers, while Cimperman drove in the lone run.
Finn Johnson takes the loss, going 3 ⅔ innings, and allowing three earned runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Henry Myers worked 2 ⅓ innings of relief, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and three punchouts.
Wickliffe’s bid for its first regional tournament appearance since 2013 starts with Friday’s district championship game against Waynedale at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton with a 2:00 p.m. first pitch.
“It’s exciting,” Bucar said of making a district title game. “In the past couple of years, we haven’t made it this far, so being able to get that opportunity to go out and play lights the fire for us. We’re ready to go.”
