A Beautiful day for baseball at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
Canton, OH - Massillon Head Coach Spike Ridgely went with Matt McGeorge to start their District Semifinal game against rival Jackson. McGeorge took it from there and then some. On a sun splashed afternoon McGeorge scattered 3 hits while pitching a complete game shut out.
The Polar Bears were able to get two men on in the bottom half of the 1st inning after McGeorge hit Garrett Wright and Eric Freetage followed with a single to the left center gap. With runners on the corners, McGeorge was able to get Kyle Benson to ground out to short stop Gavin Marceric.
That single for the Polar Bears would be their last hit until the bottom of the 6th. From the 2nd inning through the 5th, McGeorge allowed one Polar Bear to reach base, a Carson Pastorius walk in the bottom of the 2nd.
In the top half of the 2nd inning, the bottom third of the Tiger line-up got the offense started. Following a Drew Stitt ground out to the short stop, Luke McGeorge helped his older brother out with a single on a high chopper that got over Polar Bear starting pitcher Jake Sweetnich's head. McGeorge was quick to swipe second with a stolen base. Chase Duplain grounded out to the 2nd baseman, keeping McGeorge at 2nd. Next up was 9 hole hitter Xavier Hamid. Hamid turned on a Sweetnich offering and sent in deep into the left center gap, plating McGeorge and affording himself the opportunity to stroll into second base with a stand up double.
Tigers Xavier Hamid sends a double to the left field gap to bring McGeorge home to break the 0-0 tie
As the line-up flipped to the top of the order, Gavin Maceric jumped on the first pitch, sending a single through the left side into left field and Hamid hustled home to make the score 2-0.
That was all the scoring McGeorge would need as he settled in and set the Polar Bears down in order through the 3rd and 4th innings. The Tigers offense was kept quiet themselves by Sweetnich in the 3rd and southpaw Landon Thiel from the 4th inning on.
Matt McGeorge gets Eric Freetage to fly out to end the 6th
The Polar Bears did threaten in the bottom of the 7th, getting two runners on with 2 outs. After a brief meeting at the mound, McGeorge was able to get Jackson pinch hitter Jaden Metcalf to ground out to Maceric who flipped it over to Chase Duplain to end the game.
Matt McGeorge gets Jaden Metcalf to ground out for the final out and the Tiger celebration ensues
Massillon will play the winner of Chardon and Akron Hoban on Thursday evening at Thurman Munson in Canton.
Massillon Tigers await the start of the game
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