Kirtland entered the 2024 postseason with high expectations. As the second seed in Division III, the Hornets had a first-round bye and faced Chagrin Falls. But the Tigers jumped out early and rode it to a 5-3 victory, eliminating the Hornets. Related Articles Mayfield baseball: Wildca ts riding wave of confidence into new season High school scoreboard for March 26 Kenston baseball: Bombers ready to take off after just missing third straight state trip Mentor baseball: Cardinals aiming higher after GCC title a season ago Perry baseball: Pirates gearing up after late comeback in regional final ended their season last year The elimination stung, but Coach Luke Smrdel and the players knew it was the start of a run for the team. With a large number of contributors back this spring, there is a lot to be excited about. The Hornets are in Division VI in the newly expanded OHSAA setup. Smrdel said the Hornets can become a staple in the regional round or further. “Honestly, these guys, they’re ready to play,” Smrdel said. “The focus has always been if something were to happen, we lose early, you turn it to the next year. And these seniors this year have stepped up and they’re ready to go. You have to have a short memory, that’s the big thing. And you have to just play the game and see how it goes. So, unfortunately, we went out early, but at the same point, we’re ready for this year.” Kirtalnd’s strength is at the plate. All of its returning starters hit over .250 a season ago, led by Xavier Lasecki at .409, with Tyler Turk (.392) and Lucci Cantini (.365) not far behind. Cantini also blasted a pair of home runs and drove 20 runs across the plate. The Hornets will also get a boost from two players who missed last season with injuries. Seniors Casey Carkhuff and Matthew Kahley return to the lineup. They hit .414 and .345, respectively, in 2023. Cantini said the injuries were tough for the team to overcome, but it allowed the rest of the players to build confidence in their game. “It just gives everyone an opportunity to play more baseball,” Cantini said. “And more baseball gets you better at baseball. So I feel like we’ll be pretty good this year, because there’s been a lot of kids that have played a lot of baseball.” Players including Ben DiFranco, Vitto Cantini and Noah Conner saw limited action last season, and a large part of that is because of the ever-changing weather. Kirtland is one of a handful of area teams that have turf on the field in some capacity. But the Hornets have just the first and third base lines that are turfed. It allows them to get in a majority of their games, but the weather always throws a wrench in during the early portion of the season. Cantini said they need to remain focused regardless of the unpredictable weather. “You just gotta go to every practice with a great mindset,” Cantini said. “And not knowing if you’re gonna be able to practice tomorrow and get a lot of swings in, get a lot reps in.” The inconsistent schedule can throw a pitching staff out of rhythm, especially one as inexperienced as the Hornets’. Last season, Kirtland went to the senior arms of Gino Blasini and Trip Thaler. The duo threw a combined 78 1/3 innings, went 10-3 and struck out 84 batters. The only arms who have thrown multiple full games for Kirtland going into this season are Max Paul and Xavier Lasecki, who only threw a combined 38 innings. Paul did finish the 2024 season 5-0. Smrdel said getting experience on the bump will be important, and pitchers can’t let an early season rut or bad run get to them. “(Paul is) probably gonna go into that No. 10 role this year, but he just got back from basketball,” Smrdel said . “He’s maybe a few weeks behind with how many pitches, he’s just throwing and stuff like that, but still, I first see him going into that role. We got Sebby Becker, who pitched for us last year, Nate Chuko, guys Lasecki, all these guys gave us a lot of innings last year. So they have a lot of experience. We gotta get guys who give us a lot of innings like Gino did.” Kirtland’s season starts with a rematch of the postseason contest from a year ago with a trip to Chagrin Falls on April 1.   ...read more read less