The May 9th Edition of Diamond Chat Presented by Dr. Karen Kramer is here: This week, Tim Alcorn and Shaun Bennett name the First Federal Savings of Lorain Teams of the Week, Get a Grip with Elyria Catholic pitcher Jack Laird, and step Inside the Dugout with Elyria Catholic Softball Coach Megan Bashak. Enjoy!

Avon team: Jacob Boesger, Alex Stamatis and Connor Smith

On Monday, May 6th the Avon team made up of Jacob Boesger, Connor Smith and Alex Stamatis defeated the Lake Ridge Academy team of Sparsh Balabadrapatruni, John Harrington and Ryan Rosu by a score of 360 – 270 to advance to the 2019 Scholastic Games of Lorain County.

Avon jumped out to an early lead scoring a perfect 60 points in the “Initial Round” while Lake Ridge totaled  30 points in the opening stanza. However, the Avon lead would be cut to just 10, after Lake Ridge worked their way back in the following “Current Events Round”.

In round three, the first round with a buzzer, the quick thinking of Avon allowed the Eagles to once again gain the advantage as they ended the period up 160-90 over Lake Ridge.

In the next two rounds, the two teams traded leads before Avon finally pulled away in the final round claiming the victory and with it a spot in this year’s final. Avon’s Alex Stamatis was named the Standout Scholar Award winner, picking up the honor for the second time this season.

Listen to the entire show below, and hear archived shows on the Scholastic Games of Lorain County web page here.

Make sure to tune in next Monday at 3pm on WEOL for the second semifinal featuring Avon Lake and Elyria.

On this edition of Diamond Chat Presented by Dr. Karen Kramer: Tim Alcorn and Shaun Bennett name the First Federal Savings of LorainTeams of the Week, Get a Grip with Keystone Softball pitcher Sydney Campbell, and Step in the Dugout with Vermilion Coach Jeff Keck. Enjoy!

Despite some choppy weather, The Prebis Memorial Classic Softball Tournament took center stage on WEOL over the weekend.

During Saturday’s event, we covered three games which featured some of the best softball teams in the state.

KRISTIN BAUER/ CHRONICLE
Umpire Larry Krueger congratulates Keystone’s pitcher Sydney Campbell

Game 1: #1 Keystone 1 vs #1 Warren Champion 0

The day’s opening game on WEOL featured the Keystone Wildcats (ranked 1st in the DII Coaches Poll) against Warren Champion (ranked 1st in the DIII Coaches Poll).

Once again, Keystone pitcher Sydney Campbell was dominant in the circle picking up another victory and coming up just one hit shy of a perfect game.

Keystone’s lone run cam in the third inning when Autumn Acord drove in Maddie Herrington from first base with an RBI double.

listen to the game below.

Game 2: Lake 11 vs #7 Amherst 1 

KRISTIN BAUER / CHRONICLE
Amherst Steele High School’s Kylee McGraw gets a hit

In the following broadcast, the Amherst Comets (ranked 7th in the DI Coaches Pool) took on a loaded Lake batting order.

The Blue Streaks opened the game with a solo home run from Lindsey McMillan.

They followed that up by posting 11 hits and three home runs on Amherst ace Madison O’Berg.

Amherst’s lone run came off the bat of Kylee McGraw who blasted a solo home run over the left/center fence in the fourth inning.

listen below

Game 3: Elyria 13 vs Hoover 6

In our final game of the weekend, the Elyria Pioneer had the comeback of the tournament.

KRISTIN BAUER / CHRONICLE
Elyria’s third baseman Kerrigan Williams

Elyria trailed North Canton Hover 6-1 going into the final inning of play.

Sparked by Jessica Chapman’s two RBI triple, the Pioneers posted five runs in the final frame to force extra innings.

In the eighth, the Pioneers followed up their seventh inning act by plating seven more runs on six hits to claim the come from behind victory over the Vikings.

listen to the remarkable comeback below.