Division I State Baseball Preview

By Mike Conley

June 02, 2008, 11:58AM

THE GAMES: Cleveland St. Ignatius (27-4) vs. Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (24-6), Thursday, 4 p.m. Lakewood St. Edward (22-6) vs. West Chester Lakota West (26-1), Thursday, 7 p.m.

The winners play Saturday at 1 p.m.

THE SKINNY: Neighborhood rivals from Cleveland join two perennial Southwest Ohio powers for what seems to be a wide-open Final Four. Though three parochial schools have advanced to Columbus, the lone public representative - Lakota West - happens to be the defending state champ and would probably be considered a slight favorite to repeat the feat.

File photoThe state baseball tournament is being held at Cooper Satdium, home of the AAA Columbus Clippers (Washington Nationals) in Columbus, Ohio.

The neighborhood theme, though, goes deeper than just the possibility of a St. Edward-St. Ignatius final. Moeller defeated its archrival, St. Xavier, in last week's regional semifinals, 9-5, before holding off Lakota East - the neighborhood rival of its state semifinal opponent - by the same score a day later.

Lakota West went the Columbus route for its regional and won a trip back this weekend in dominating fashion. Just as dominating along the way, though, has been a St. Ignatius team that's outscored its tournament opponents 57-4 and shutout perennial power Toledo Start, 12-0, in last Friday's Tiffin Regional final.

PAIR OF ACES: Moeller will likely send senior left-hander Greg Williams, a Marshall University signee, to the hill against Ignatius. Williams improved to 6-2 by getting all but the final out against St. Xavier.

Ignatius will likely counter with senior Matt Rosinski, a Miami (Ohio) University recruit and, like Williams, a possible selection in Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft, which also begins Thursday. Rosinski is 8-1 on the season.

DEEP THREAT: In a stadium named after an outstanding former catcher, Alex Lavisky of St. Edward showed he's one to keep an eye on in the future.

Just a sophomore, Lavisky homered three times in two days to push the Eagles through the Canton Regional at Thurman Munson Stadium. His two homers in the semifinal helped the Eagles top an efficient Massillon Jackson team that was essentially playing a home game.

Then Lavisky added another - plus a 400-foot triple off the top of the wall - en route to producing four RBI in a 9-5 win over Mayfield to send St. Edward to Columbus.

YOUNG GUNS: First-year St. Edward coach Danny Allie turned to another sophomore to take the mound and record the final six outs of both of the Eagles' regional wins.

His son, Stetson, struck out three and didn't allow a ball out of the infield against Mayfield. Against Jackson, he struck out five of the six batters he faced.

Stetson Allie plays shortstop and hits cleanup for the Eagles, one spot behind Lavisky. Lavisky's three homers last weekend gave him a share of the team lead for the season, at seven, with Allie.

HIT PARADE: Lakota West batted around twice in five innings in a 13-2 regional semifinal victory over Newark, then scored 16 runs the following day in a wild 16-11 win over Gahanna. Senior Craig Gauden had six RBI and pitched five innings of relief in the regional final.

MATCH 'EM UP: Likely pinned with the task of slowing the Firebirds' potent offense Thursday night is St. Edward senior lefty Kevin Lesjack, who's 8-0 on the season and is averaging about one strikeout per inning.

Junior left-hander Nathan Smith, Lakota West's likely starter Thursday, is 11-0 on the season. Smith started the Firebirds' win over Newark, then pitched the final inning and two-thirds of the regional final win over Gahanna to get the win.

Smith has earned the win in Lakota West's last three tournament victories. He pitched a complete game two-hitter as the Firebirds beat Sidney, 1-0, in their district final.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Lakota West beat Ignatius, 8-2, in last year's semifinals.

Ignatius is in the state semifinals for the fifth time this decade. The Wildcats' last state championship came in 2002.

Moeller is in the Final Four for the first time since it won the title in 2004.