CLEVELAND — The Twinsburg Tigers varsity baseball team is moving on to the Ohio state championship final game.
Twinsburg took down Delaware's Olentangy Berlin Bears, 4-1, in Friday's OHSAA Division I state semifinal game. The Tigers will face Mason in the final on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Canal Park in Akron.
Win or lose on Sunday, Twinsburg's state final appearance is a remarkable way to cap a season that the team dedicated to its late head coach, Jeff Luca. Luca died in an accident in Pennsylvania last December.
Twinsburg, led by head coach Jim Lipinski, tallied wins over two higher-seeded teams on its run to the final. The Tigers dispatched Region 1 foes Archbishop Hoban, Dover, Wooster and Hoover before defeating the top-seeded Bears in the semifinal.
According to a message to Twinsburg families and community members written by district Superintendent Kathi Powers, the school will send the team off with a police and fire escort on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. Powers invited community members to stop by the procession and cheer the players on.
The send-off route begins at the Twinsburg High School Commons parking lot and continues as follows:
- Down Ravenna Road toward Township Square
- Right on Church Street
- Right on Rt. 82 all the way to Macedonia line
Tickets to Sunday's final, which also includes the three finals from the state's other divisions, are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Children age 5 and younger get free admission. Tickets can be purchased here.
Powers said that the school will hold a parade and community celebration for the baseball team on Monday.