News

Oct 09, 2023

Keystone baseball: All

Northeast Ohio baseball seniors, along with a few underclassmen, got to enjoy themselves for one more game representing their schools in the NEOBCA All-Star games on June 28 at Canal Park in Akron.

Northeast Ohio baseball seniors, along with a few underclassmen, got to enjoy themselves for one more game representing their schools in the NEOBCA All-Star games on June 28 at Canal Park in Akron.

The Keystone representative on the team mainly composed of Lorain County and some Cuyahoga County players was Jack Sivec. After earning Division III first-team All-Ohio honors and numerous accolades as a senior heading to Baldwin Wallace to continue playing baseball, it was surreal to play with several of the top area talents he’d played against in the past three seasons.

“The atmosphere, the field, just everyone playing at the same level, it’s awesome,” Sivec said on his way back from the game, with his side falling 4-1. “You know everyone’s going to be good out there and nobody is slacking. You play against these guys in your four years of high school, you kinda know them, but you don’t really get to know them and compete against them.

“Then guys get to come together and play on the same team and you get to know who they are. You get to see what it’s like with them playing with you instead of against you and it’s awesome.”

When asked who he thought he hit it off with the most among his teammates at the NEOBCA game, Elyria Catholic grad Dominic Calanni was his answer. Calanni, a fellow third baseman, took home Division II first-team All-Ohio honors for the Panthers.

“We met at the Lorain County game a couple of weeks ago,” Sivec recalled. “We talked, started following each other on social media and then we played catch tonight and we talked. He’s just a cool dude. I’m glad I got to meet him and connect with him through these two games.”

Sivec earned his spots in these postseason events. He hit for a .543 batting average while jacking up five home runs and 32 RBI with 15 doubles and 37 runs scored. His bat would reign fire and fury down on opposing teams throughout 2023.

In 2022, Keystone and a then-junior Sivec were very young as a team and still were in 2023, with the Wildcats nearly punching through to their first district tournament appearance since 2019 before letting their slim lead in the sectional final slip through their fingers late in the contest.

Sivec was a huge key to that run as his bat was among the best in the area, especially going to Baldwin Wallace and looking to improve on his hitting in the collegiate ranks.

As Sivec looked back on his career, a big highlight from his final high school season was able to play with his younger cousin Drew Sivec on the varsity squad this year. Jack described himself and Drew as “my best friend” and how cool it was to play with family.

“He practically lives at my house,” Sivec joked. “He was at my house last night. He stays over five out of seven days of the week. I got to take him under my wing and he got to see what varsity is like playing with me. It’s special and something that I’ll always be happy that it happened.”

After losing his first season of high school ball to a pandemic and a large portion of his sophomore year to a hip injury, Sivec said that he wasn’t going to take anything for granted following those experiences.

“Going into my junior year, I knew I had a lot to prove since I missed a lot of my first two seasons,” he said. “After my good junior campaign, there were some nerves going into my senior year. I was like ‘What if I just have a bad year?’ and obviously that didn’t happen.

“I’m always glad I got to take in the moments that meant the most. My senior year, just having such a good year with some of my closest friends, guys I got to hang out with all year, I wouldn’t trade those memories for the world.”

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