Staff photo / Brian Yauger The Cardinal Mooney baseball team dogpiles pitcher Ford Stacy after the Cardinals won their second consecutive district title on Thursday.

LOUISVILLE — For the second year in a row, the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals are district champions.

After a go-ahead hit from junior Taco Verocco that scored a pair of runners, and a complete game effort on the mound from junior Ford Stacy, Mooney took down Field 3-1 to earn the Division IV, Northeast 2 district crown.

“It was a tough game,” Cardinals coach Eddie Reese said. “Field was a heck of an opponent. They fought, and we fought back. I’m just really proud of our guys for playing all seven innings, and especially this guy here, Ford Stacy, on the mound was excellent, gave us the chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Stacy surrendered just two hits in seven innings, striking out six.

“It’s amazing going back-to-back,” Stacy said. “Just go out there, pitch behind my guys, knowing their defense is behind me, and knowing we can hit. It’s amazing.”

For the first three innings, neither team was able to get the better of the other, despite getting runners on. The Falcons got on the board first, capitalizing on a Mooney throwing error in the top of the fourth. But the Cardinals made the most of their next trip to the plate.

Verocco sent a shot down the left-field line that brought both freshman Gavin Sentner and junior Ben Oddis home. That hit gave Mooney an advantage it wouldn’t surrender.

“That was a heck of an at-bat,” Reese said. “He stayed back on a curveball and put it in left field. Huge at-bat.”

That hit opened things up at the plate for Mooney.

The next inning, Oddis knocked home Johnny Brenner with a double. Brenner and Verocco each finished the game with two hits.

“I think at this stage of the year in the tournament, it’s nerves kind of settling in,” Reese said. “I think we settled in there in like the third or fourth inning, and once we get comfortable, we play our best when we’re relaxed.”

Having an experienced group never hurts, especially as the stage only gets bigger.

“It’s a veteran group,” Reese said. These guys, led by juniors and seniors, they’ve been starting. They’ve been playing a lot of baseball since they were freshmen and sophomores at a high level. I think they’re a very, very tight-knit group, and they compete their butts off.”

The Cardinals advance to the regional semifinals, where they’ll take on Norton, which defeated Jefferson Area 6-4 in the Northeast 1 bracket. Game time is 2 p.m. at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton on Tuesday.

Reese thinks the team’s best baseball is yet to come.

“Our motivation is just to keep playing,” Reese said. “We want to play as long as we can. Playing baseball in June is a lot of fun. Might finally get to form, and I think we think our best baseball is still ahead of us.”