By Steve Hare

Apparently, Chardon plays its best baseball in the postseason.

 The third-seeded Hilltoppers knocked off No. 2 seed Kenston on Friday, 7-4, to win their second sectional championship in as many seasons. The red-hot Hilltoppers, a 2012 regional finalist, was set to play Austintown-Fitch on Thursday in a Struthers District semifinal.

 “To me it’s really not an upset,” said Chardon head coach Brian Long. “We won 11 of our last 12 games; we’re probably one of the hottest teams in the state right now. I don’t think anyone wants to play us.”

 The Hilltoppers improved to 16-9 this season. The Bombers finished 19-4.

 Chardon jumped all over Kenston starter Sherman Kruger with four runs in the top of the first inning.

 Drew Gittins started the one-out rally with an infield single and Reilly Hawkins followed that up with a sharp single down the left field line. Gittins scored when Brandon LeScoezec reached on a fielder’s choice and Jake Happ knocked in two runs with his single to left.

 Ben Furlich knocked in the Hill-toppers’ fourth run of the inning on a ground out to second.

 “When we get the leads early in the game, we’re a dangerous team,” Long said. “Pitching and defense are going to keep us in the game. Our offense, we got our timely hitting.”

 Kenston responded with two runs in the first and two more in the second to tie the game.

 Adam Bush drew a leadoff walk, Jacob Carpenter singled and Peter Rozman walked to load the bases for Anthony Hajdu, who singled to score Bush and Carpenter.

 Bush, who finished 2-for-3, with 2 runs scored, singled to start off the second. He scored on Sean O’Connor’s double to right center. O’Connor tied the game on Rozman’s base hit.

 “I was pretty confident we would come back and get those four runs back,” said Kenston head coach Bob Ford. “I was real confident with that and we did.”

 Kruger, who recorded a school-best 54th strike out in the first inning, settled down after the rough start. He allowed just one more Chardon hit until the fifth.

 For Chardon starter Drew Gittins, it took a line shot to his head for him to find his groove.

 The bottom of the third started with a rocket off Hajdu’s bat to the mound. Gittins barely flinched to record the line drive out.

 “For the first couple innings, I don’t think I had my best stuff,” said Gittins, who improved to 5-3 with the complete game victory. “I was kind of floating through. A kid hit a line drive right at my nose. That kind of woke me up.”

 Gittins, who threw 24 pitches in Chardon’s 8-7 sectional semifinal win over Solon on Thursday, threw another 136 pitches against Kenston. Most of those throws came early in the game.

 “Drew’s the type of guy, our assistant coach, he’s been coaching him for three years now and he said Drew needs 100 pitches just to warm up,” Long said. “That kid’s got a gum band for an arm.”

 Chardon took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth when LeScoezec reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a Furlich single.

 Kenston threatened in the bottom half of the fifth when the Bombers loaded the bases with one out, but Gittins drew a pop out and ground out to keep the Hilltoppers in the lead.

 The Hilltoppers put together another big inning in the top of the seventh.

 Gittins, who finished 3-for-4, singled and advanced to second on an error. He was thrown out at third on a ground ball to the shortstop. Hawkins, who reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Happ drew a two-out walk and then Furlich struck again with a 2 RBI single to increase Chardon’s lead to 7-4.

 Furlich finished the game 2-for-4 with 4 RBI.

 “I saw the ball, hit it and it fell,” Furlich said. “The last two innings were awesome. The energy in the dugout was amazing. No one was down. Everyone was picking each other up. I think that’s what helped.”

 Gittins struck out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to finish off the Bombers.

 “We battled,” Long said. “Drew Gittins came out there. He didn’t have his best stuff and (against Solon) Ben Furlich didn’t have his best stuff, but they fight. I call them bulldogs. You’ve got to be a bulldog out there. Our defense stepped up and made plays and we got the timely hitting.”

 Hawkins finished 1-for-4 with 3 runs scored and Happ was 1-for-1 with a walk and he was hit twice. Bush and Carpenter both had two hits for the Bombers.

Gittins allowed 9 hits and struck out 6 while Kruger gave up 9 hits and struck out 4.

For more Hilltopper Sports - check out the Maple Leaf at

www.geaugamapleleaf.com