Terra State earns top seed in Region 12 tournament

Terra State Community College is coming off its first conference baseball title and is looking to keep its momentum going. The Titans are the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Region 12 tournament, which begins at noon Wednesday at Sports Force Parks. Terra State plays Lorain Community College in its first game. Owens CC plays Delta (Michigan) in the other first round matchup. "Just because you're a 1 seed doesn't guarantee anything except you play two games (Wednesday)," Terra State head coach Gregg Hedden said. "You win two, you go to the finals. If you split, you go to the losers bracket and play more games. "I think we're in a good place, but once the tournament starts everybody is 0-0." Hedden, who announced earlier this season that he is stepping down as Terra State's first and only head coach, also is in a good place. He recorded his 100th victory with the Titans last Friday and led Terra State to a 9-3 record to win the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference Division III title. "Last weekend was pretty special," Hedden said. "The program got its 100th win, we win the conference on Saturday, going 3-1 in the series against Owens. "Friday was really cool because all those former players who started this program came back and were part of that." Hedden, who has coached multiple sports at Port Clinton, Margaretta and other area schools, didn't want to make a big deal about his 100th win. "I have downplayed it because they can't feel edgy — just go play and let the chips fall," he said. "They've had a really good year. This is the most injuries we've had; we're playing games without a third of our lineup sometimes. To go 27-22 without a third of your starting lineup, those kids coming in have done a really nice job." Hedden will stay on as an assistant coach to Jake Wilson, who is Terra's current associate head coach. "I promised Jake that he would be the next head coach when we started it (in 2022)," Hedden said. "I didn't know how long I was gonna be able to do it. It's his turn. We'll just flip some titles around and stay status quo, but I won't have to make out lineups and do a lot of recruiting because it's not my team." When asked about the program's success, Hedden mentions the baseball, of course, but immediately pivots to academics. "You go into it wanting to do the right things," he said about starting the program from scratch. "We're really good in the classroom. Having over 50 award-winners in the conference over the last five years and having 13 academic All-Americans last year, and at least five on every team having national awards, that's what's really important to me. "Wins happen when you get good people involved in your program. We've had that; we have really good young men — good students and good athletes." Terra State has 40 players on its roster, many from northern Ohio. The Titans are ranked No. 13 in this week's NJCAA Division III poll. Hedden will take his team into this week's double elimination tournament, which could end Thursday or Friday. The winner will host the Great Lakes District next week. "We have dudes, but they're pretty spread out," he said. "We don't have 'that dude,' but we have a bunch of dudes." The Titans have nine players batting above .300, including Bellevue graduate Jax LaPata (.328) and Sandusky graduate Dennarius Walk (.314). Ramzee Abuhashish, a sophomore infielder from Sylvania Southview, leads the team with a .391 average. Brendan Barlage (Miller City) and Hayden Kline (Marengo Highland) each have driven in a team-high 32 runs. Hansen Guth (Medina) is the team's No. 1 pitcher and was named OCCAC player of the week. Bellevue's Cody Lindsey is the No. 2 starter and Kline is another strong arm. "We use a lot of pitchers; they've all thrown," Hedden said. "We'll need them all this week." Hedden, who graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1984, got his coaching start while he was still in college. "I have worked under really, really good people, and good coaches," he said. "I had some great mentors and when I've been a head coach I've had really good assistants. It helps when you surround yourself with good people." Hedden, who was an umpire before focusing on coaching baseball, has enjoyed a winning season, but he is only focused on this week's double elimination tournament. "I'll probably think about it in June," he said of his impact on Terra State's program. "We enjoyed it Friday night for a couple hours and Saturday we went right back to work. It'll hit me sometime."