By Jamie Ward

Geauga County Maple Leaf

For some of the graduated at Sunday's inaugural Ohio Varsity All Star Classic it was, they presumed, their last time to play competitive baseball.
"I'm getting ready for college basketball," said Noah Bidar, West Geauga's center fielder, admitting Classic Park in Eastlake, the home of the minor league Lake County Captains was the nicest field he'd ever played on.
For others, it was a fun contest without the pressure of winning or losing.
"It's nice to play in a big stadium like this," said Wolverine Cal Slusarz, who will plans to play for Wittenberg University in Springfield. "We should be pretty loose. It should be relaxed and just for fun."
And for the truly devout, like Chardon's Reilly Hawkins, who plays summer baseball with six of the players in the opposing dugout, it was his second game of the day.
"It's awesome," he said standing in the on-deck circle. "Obviously it's a treat to play in a professional stadium. It's a surreal feeling, and the atmosphere is awesome."
The June 23 night game, that was attended by about 500 parents, classmates, girlfriends and fans, was started by Steve Hare, founder and publisher of OhioVarsity.com, a website promoting high school athletics.
In all, 18 schools were represented from throughout Northeast Ohio, with Geauga County participants from Chardon, West Geauga, Kenston and Chagrin Falls.
"I really wanted the game to be special," Hare said, "something the kids and coaches would remember and take pride in being a part of, especially this year since it was the inaugural game. I really think we accomplished that, especially after seeing the positive reviews from the players and coaches on Twitter."
Hare, a veteran of the Army, remains a big supporter of the armed forces. The game was intended to include softball players, and represent all four branches, and that is the goal moving forward, Hare said.
But after the camouflage uniforms were drawn up and posted on Twitter to be voted on, the Marines and Air Force were the two most popular jerseys, so they became the name of the teams.
Kenston's Bob Ford coached for the Air Force team.
“I’ve been down to Progressive Field and coached in the Charity game and been to some other places," said the long-time coach. "And no offense to those events at all, but this one is as well organized as any I have ever been part of. This is a wonderful opportunity for these kids at a premier facility.”
The Marines won the game 6-1 behind strong pitching and defense, allowing just five Air Force hits.
While it's safe to say the score is secondary in an all star game, it was the Marines team that touched home plate safely throughout the game.
Geauga County players were well represented from the beginning, when Hawkins singled in the top of the first inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Mitch Longo (Mayfield) single.
In the second, Hawkins and Longo each singled, scoring Ben Furlich, who led the inning off with a walk.
Chardon's Jake Happ scored two of the three Marines runs in the fifth inning on a two-out single to right field.
"I was here when I was 15," Happ said before the game. "It's nice to come back."
Happ will attend the University of Akron in the fall and hopes to walk on to the Zips' baseball program. "We'll see what happens," he said.
Brandon Lescoezec was robbed his first two at-bats by the opposing third baseman — first on a diving play toward the line; second on one-hop smash that was body-blocked.
It had been about a month since Lescoezec had taken any swings.
"It's the last time I'll be out on the field competitively until I play softball when I get old," he said, smiling.
Having played at Progressive Field earlier in the season against Kenston, Lescoezec said he actually preferred Classic Park.
"Progressive was so hard," he aid. "This one there is more give, especially for sliding."
Lescoezec will study at chemical engineering at The Ohio State University in the fall.
Hawkins finished the day 2 for 5 with a run scored, rotating between the outfield and catcher. Happ was 2 for 2 with two RBI's and a run scored.
Chardon's Ben Furlich threw the third and fourth innings to notch the win. He allowed two hits and one run.
"It's nice out there," Furlich said. "I had a lot of great defensive plays behind me, so that was nice. Just pitching to contact."
Furlich plans to attend Kent State University in the fall.
Kenston's Sherman Kruger started for the Air Force team, allowing two hits, a walk and a run.
Chagrin Falls' Keith Orzen played first base, had a hit and scored a run.
Dalton Yost, Sean O'Connor also represented the Bombers. Yost pitched and had a hit.
“This is what an all-star game is all about. Good players, good pitching, good defense," coach Ford told OhioVarsity.com afterward. "I haven’t seen defense like that in an all-star game in a long time.”
West Geauga's Harrison Sigman and Kenston's Jacob Carpenter were selected for the game but could not attend.
Hawkins hopes to play college baseball but has not decided yet where he'd like to attend. The outfielder has made a switch to catcher, which makes him more appealing to coaches.
Hare said he had trouble sleeping in the week leading up to the game.
"I was so nervous," he said. "I have been involved in event management, so I was pretty sure I had all my bases covered and was prepared for some things not to go as planned, but the weather was something I couldn’t control. Fortunately, it turned out to be a gorgeous night—but it rained on my way home."
Hare hopes to expand the all star game reach to volleyball and soccer in the fall and basketball in the winter.
"We're pretty excited about the future," he said.
For more photos from the game, visit bit.ly/leafphotos.

PHOTO: Ben Furlich hurled two innings to get the 6-1 win for his Marines team at the Ohio Varsity All Star Classic at Classic Park, the home of the minor league Lake County Captains.