St. Paul clinches FC title share

NORWALK — Gabe and Izaac Snyder are used to having the "best of both worlds" on the baseball diamond. But Monday was a bit more special for the identical twin mainstays on the St. Paul baseball team. First, the Snyder twins celebrated Senior Day festivities with three other teammates. Then, the Flyers proceeded to beat visiting New London by a 7-1 score to clinch at least a share of the Firelands Conference championship. The win at Contractors Park improved St. Paul — the No. 3-ranked team in this week's Division VII state coaches poll — to 16-2 overall and 11-1 in the FC. The Flyers need a win over the Wildcats (7-12, 2-10) on the road Tuesday or against Monroeville (12-7, 6-5) on Thursday — or a loss by South Central (8-9, 8-3) — to clinch the title outright. The championship is the fifth in the last nine seasons for the program. It also keeps alive a streak of at least one FC title in a school year at St. Paul dating back to 1994-95. "We've all put in the hard work for this," Gabe Snyder said. "People say our season starts in the spring, but for a lot of us it started in the winter. Senior festivities were great, so to keep that streak alive and win a share today is really special." The Flyers played from in front from the start thanks to Izaac Snyder. He tripled down the right field line on the second pitch he saw from the leadoff spot. Starting pitcher Alex Marsh singled him in one batter later for a 1-0 lead. "Last year we stumbled a bit, and we had a lot of young guys to break in this year, so this one feels great," Izaac said. "This team has really come along well right from the start this season." St. Paul didn't score again until the bottom of the fifth, when Casey Fries was hit by a pitch and scored on a misplayed ball after River Couch had singled deep in the hole between second and third base. But that 2-0 lead was plenty on Monday for Marsh. He breezed through the first six innings but ran into a little trouble in the seventh. He walked three batters and gave up a base hit to Henry Thomas before his 12th and final strikeout sealed the win. Marsh allowed the earned run on three hits and walked four. "Alex pitched probably his best game of the year," St. Paul coach Aaron Fries said. "He maybe got a touch tired there at the end, but he wanted to finish, and I obliged. But his first six innings were his best of the year, which is something we want to see with the tournament coming up. He was in command from the first pitch." St. Paul put the game out of reach with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Casey Fries was hit by a pitch, and Couch walked. Izaac Snyder drew another walk to load the bases with one out, and Marsh drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to force in a run. Landon Fries then worked a five-pitch walk without swinging at a pitch to make it 4-0, and Isaac Kalizewski delivered the big blow with a bases-clearing three-run double down the right field line. "We've been great this year at passing the bat," Coach Fries said. "But early in the game, we were a little impatient and didn't take advantage of situations. We were putting the ball in the air and striking out, two things that we weren't doing much of. "But our guys relaxed as the game went on, then we got back to the way we played in the sixth with those five runs in a way we've been doing all year," he added. "If it's not your turn, it's not your turn. Pass the bat and let the next guy drive in runs, and that's what we did." Since 2015, St. Paul has averaged 18 wins overall and 11 in the FC with five conference titles. The Flyers enter Tuesday just two wins shy of 18 and have again won 11 conference games. "It's nice just to come out and do it at home for our seniors," Coach Fries said. "It really shows how consistent we've been to do it with two games to play in a conference that has been very difficult this season. "For us to earn a share in the way we've done it to this point says a lot about this group and how well they've played between the lines and the leadership that we have this year." N. London 000 000 1 — 1 3 4 St. Paul 100 105 x — 7 5 1 WP: Marsh; LP: Williams 2B: (SP) Kalizewski; 3B: (SP) I. Snyder