Carmichael Classic was as good as it gets
- col-aaron-dorksen
- May 1, 2024
- 669
A few thoughts from the week in sports …
For high school baseball fans in Wayne County and beyond, April 27 was a day to long remember. It was about as good as it gets, at least in the regular season.
The weather was perfect. Ten games were played at three sites, involving 20 teams. And a local legend gone too soon was remembered.
The fifth annual Carmichael Classic might have been the biggest single-day high school baseball showcase in area history, with games played at host Triway High School, along with Wooster High School and The College of Wooster.
The Classic is held to honor the legacy of Sean Carmichael, who passed away in 2019 at age 52. The Triway alum was a three-sport standout, longtime baseball coach and athletic director, transportation supervisor, and assistant boys basketball coach. He also was a baseball star at the University of Akron.
“The build-up to it sometimes is the worst part, but once we got there and it got rolling, it turned out to be a beautiful day, which obviously helps,” said Justin McDowell, Triway baseball coach and co-athletic director, who organized the event. “The cool part was seeing all the people coming back from around the area. Putting a good product on the field helps as well, and there were a lot of really good games.”
At the Titans’ Blaine Carmichael Field, Dalton started the day by edging West Holmes 5-4 in extra innings. Triway defeated Smithville 7-4, and Akron Hoban, under the leadership of coach Derek Carmichael, Sean’s son, won the nightcap 3-2 over defending Division IV state champ Hiland.
At Wooster High School, Chippewa run-ruled Loudonville 11-1, Wooster topped Northwest 8-6 and Medina Buckeye doubled up defending Div. III state champ Waynedale 4-2.
In games at The College of Wooster’s Art Murray Field, Hillsdale routed Tuslaw 23-5, Ravenna Southeast beat Northwestern 6-3, Uniontown Lake edged Dover 9-8 and Norwayne downed Orrville 8-3.
The Carmichael Classic increased from 12 teams to a record 20, and well over 1,000 combined fans attended games at the three sites. Spring sports usually don’t get much fan support compared to football or basketball, making the Carmichael Classic a great event for the area’s baseball enthusiasts.
“Honoring coach Carmichael is one of the cool things to see and just letting people see how good baseball in this area is,” McDowell said. “There are a lot of good teams, coaches and programs that do a really good job.
“I think sometimes there’s a burnout factor when you get to the spring, whether that’s parents, or schools, or whatever that is. Having the spotlight on baseball is a pretty cool thing, and that’s what we did on Saturday. We heard a lot of good comments, and I think people enjoyed it. We’re looking forward to doing this every single year.”
Norwayne’s Logan Dichler was honored as the 2024 Sean Carmichael Memorial Scholarship winner and will receive $2,500 toward his tuition at Div. II St. Leo University in Florida. Triway’s Owen Walter was the runner-up for the award and also will receive scholarship money toward attending Hocking College.
McDowell and members of the Carmichael family went to all three fields at some point during the day to thank people for coming to the event and see different games.
Last year $2,500 was given to Triway’s Kade Whitman, who’s now playing for Muskingum. Previous winners were Matt Weaver (Waynedale, 2020), Colton Snyder (Triway, 2021) and Griffin Braun (Triway, 2022).
Operation: Fandom show, McClain deliver again
The second annual Operation: Fandom Pop Culture Convention held April 21 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds Event Center was another big success. Operation: Fandom owner Josh Lehman said the attendance didn’t quite reach 2,000 like in 2023, but that was expected due to big sports collectibles shows also going on that weekend in Strongsville and Hartville.
Lehman has partnered with Greenie Sports Cards to put on a show at the Medina County Fairgrounds with 300 tables May 31 through June 1.
—I enjoyed talking with former AL MVP and Cy Young winner Denny McLain, who was a special guest at the Pop Culture Convention. McLain went 31-6 in 1968 for the Detroit Tigers, and no one has won 30 games in a season since.
Because of his friendship with the late Dean Chance, who was a 1959 Northwestern graduate and the 1964 AL Cy Young winner, McLain said he always enjoys the chance to come back to Wayne County.
“The greatest part about coming to this show are the people that I met through Dean,” McLain said. “I’ve got nicknames for all of them but don’t remember their names.
“One guy is the Amish man. He’s a great guy. Then there’s the firemen, the copper and others. Every one of them came up to say hello today. It was very nice, but the biggest thing that happened was Dean’s son Brett Chance along with his ex-wife, who’s Brett’s mother, came over to my table and spent about an hour with me. They were wonderful.”
McLain called Dean Chance’s death in 2015 at age 74 one of the biggest holes in his life. “Losing him when we did was just the biggest surprise of a lifetime. We had a great time playing against each other, and we had a better time after the game.”
Asked if he thinks someone will win 30 games in a season again, McLain said, “The way they’ve screwed up the pitching mounds and the rotations and not letting these kids pitch a whole ballgame, no one will ever win 30 again. There’s some teams that barely win 30 ballgames. Our Tiger team last year was a disaster, but hopefully this year it’s gonna be better.”
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com.