Welcome to another installment of the Enquirer's and Cincinnati.com's efforts to determine the best of the best – the greatest and most dominant of our local state champions.
This time, we identify the best of the area's baseball state champions.
8 – 1993
After outscoring Harrison, 12-9, in the regional finals and getting past Middletown, 6-2, in the regional finals, the Crusaders won the state semifinal and final by a combined 22 runs. First baseman Dave Lapham went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs in the 16-2 semifinal win over Toledo Start. Third baseman Mike Bell went 3-for-4 with a triple while scoring three runs and driving in three in 13-5 championship-game win over Barberton. Catcher Andy Burwinkel added two hits and three RBIs, while shortstop Dan Feichtner contributed two hits, two runs and two RBIs.
Mike Bell was a 2009 Buddy LaRosa High School Sports Hall of Fame inductee. This is his Moeller High School Class of 1993 yearbook photo. (Photo: Provided)
7 – 2013
After winning five district and regional tournament games by an average of 11.2 runs, the Crusaders rolled into Columbus and pulverized Aurora, 13-1, before settling for a more-routine but still-satisfactory 7-1 win over Cleveland St. Ignatius. Moeller piled up 12 hits, but only two for extra bases in a balanced attack that backed up pitcher Zach Logue's complete-game two-hitter. The only run he allowed was unearned. Two days earlier, Logue went 3-for-5 with two doubles in the semifinal romp. The Crusaders finished 32-2 and with a second straight state championship.
Riley Mahan runs to give head coach Tim Held a big hug after the final out of the Crusaders' 7-1 victory over Cleveland St. Ignatius in Columbus on Sunday. The title was Moeller's second straight and seventh overall Sunday, June, 9, 2013. (Photo: TONY TRIBBLE FOR THE ENQUIRER)
6 – 1989
The Crusaders lost six regular-season games before putting together an impressive tournament run, capped by a 12-0 win over Mentor in the Class AAA (big school) state semifinal and 12-4 win over Upper Arlington in the final. Mentor committed five errors in the semifinal, while center fielder Adam Hyzdu was going 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBIs and third baseman and future Reds manager David Bell was going 3-for-4 with a double. Hyzdu added a home run and two RBIs in the final, and designated hitter-pitcher Brian Hinderman collected three hits and drove in three runs.
Moeller center fielder Adam Hyzdu's baseball future started looking up in 1989 when he batted over .400 and hit 13 home runs, while leading Moeller to the Class AAA state title. (Photo: Enquirer file photo)
1—2015
The Crusaders finished 31-3 and, after the regular season, No. 1 in the Associated Press Division I statewide poll, capping their run by swamping Westerville Central, 16-0, in a championship game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule. Moeller erupted for six runs in the fourth inning and tacked on nine runs in the fifth inning. First-team all-state pitcher Grant Macciocchi allowed three hits with four strikeouts on the mound and went 3-for-4 with a triple and four RBIs at the plate. Shortstop and leadoff hitter Kyle Dockus went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs, and left fielder Eric Connor finished with three hits and two RBIs.
"It's great," Macciocchi said. "It's my last day ever hitting. Nothing compares. Everyone was just feeling team chemistry."
The Moeller Crusaders raise the championship trophy after the OHSAA Division I State Championship baseball game against the Westerville Central Warhawks at Huntington Park in Columbus. (Photo: The Enquirer/Sam Greene)
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