COLUMBUS -- Walsh Jesuit completed a stellar season in dominating fashion, shutting out Canal Winchester, 6-0, to win the Div. II state championship Saturday morning.

Senior lefty David Starn went the distance, striking out nine, and six different players drove in the Warriors' runs.

Walsh was steady and efficient -- hallmarks of a program that's now won three state titles since 1999 -- in just about every aspect of the game. The Warriors manufactured runs, gunned down lead runners and escaped two bases-loaded jams to preserve the shutout.

Sophomore Johnny Fasola and junior Matt Keller had two hits apiece for a young Walsh team that finished 26-3 and might be even better the next two seasons. The Warriors' only losses were to Div. I state finalists St. Ignatius and St. Edward.

They jumped on Canal Winchester (22-13) with two runs in the first inning and two more in the second. Ross Brunello's RBI double started the scoring, and Ryan Berry knocked in Brunello later in the first.

Berry and Joe Pawlowski delivered RBI singles in the second.

The Indians loaded the bases with two outs in the third but couldn't convert, then started the fourth with two baserunners before Walsh picked off Wes White in a rundown and Starn struck out the final two batters of the inning.

THE GAMES: Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit (25-3) vs. Springfield Kenton Ridge (23-6), Thursday, 10 a.m. Canal Winchester (21-12) vs. Chardon Notre Dame Cathedral Latin (22-4), Thursday, 1 p.m.

The winners play Saturday at 10 a.m.

THE SKINNY: If there's a clear-cut favorite in any of the four divisions this weekend, it's Walsh Jesuit. The Warriors are balanced offensively, stocked with arms and athletes and haven't allowed a single run since the sectionals.

But in Kenton Ridge, Walsh is facing an experienced team - the Cougars were state runner-up last season - that's more than capable of ending that scoreless streak. Kenton Ridge embraced the underdog role in its regional final by scoring 17 runs and winning via the mercy rule against a Columbus DeSales squad that entered the game 28-1.

Canal Winchester just keeps finding a way to win on an improbable tournament run, and in its way now is another team that's mixed good baseball with good bounces and big breaks along the tournament trail. NDCL has several players with state tournament experience; the Lions lost the 2006 Division II state championship game to Walsh, 3-0.

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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.

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