Staff photo / Dan Hiner Members of the Cardinal Mooney baseball team celebrate their Division IV regional championship victory over Canton Central Catholic Thursday at Thurman Munson Stadium in Canton.

CANTON — The Cardinal Mooney baseball team had only suffered three losses entering Thursday. One was to Archbishop Hoban, another to Ursuline and finally to Canton Central Catholic.

The Cardinals got a little payback on Thursday, however, as they beat CCC 5-4 to win a Division IV regional championship. It was the first for the Mooney baseball program.

“This is the farthest a Cardinal Mooney baseball team has gone, so we made a little history today,” Cardinal Mooney head coach Ed Reese said. “Very proud to be a part of the team that did that.”

Unlike in their regional semifinal, the Cardinals (24-3) got the bats going early.

Vince Gentile reached on a fielding error to start the bottom of the second. He advanced to second base on a wild pitch and later scored on a two-out RBI single by Ford Stacey down the left-field line.

Kaden Reese drew a leadoff walk in the third, and a groundout to first base by Andrew Bushey moved him into scoring position. Johnny Brenner then took out his 9-iron and hit a high flyball, but it fell in between the left fielder and shortstop.

Ben Oddis looked to have added to Mooney’s lead with a sacrifice fly, but the third-base umpire ruled that Kaden Reese left early on an appeal.

Then Canton Central Catholic (22-6-1) got going.

The Crusaders got the first two runners on via a single and a walk in the fourth. With two outs, CCC loaded the bases with a walk, and a single by Joe Meyer gave the Crusaders a 2-1 lead

“Always gotta stay up in the dugout, keep each other up and have each other’s backs,” Stacey said.

And because of that mentality, the Crusaders’ lead didn’t last long.

Gentile hit a leadoff triple to left field in the bottom of the inning. And Taco Verocco tied the game at 2 with an RBI single to left.

Stacey gave the lead back to Mooney with a triple down the right-field line, and Luke Kollar hit Mooney’s third triple of the inning over the right fielder’s head, scoring Stacey and extending the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2.

Kaden Reese followed by drawing a walk. Kollar was picked off third on a double-steal attempt, but back-to-back wild pitches allowed Kaden Reese to score, making it a 5-2 lead for Mooney.

“The bottom of the order’s just been seeing it well,” Stacey said. “We know we gotta produce down there, keep going.”

Stacey allowed back-to-back hits to start the fifth, so Ed Reese went to Jacob Gugliotta for relief. Gugliotta gave up a single to load the bases, and a walk forced home a run.

A wild pitch cut the Mooney lead to 5-4 with one out. However, the senior limited the damage with a flyout to left and a groundout.

After two innings of work, Gugliotta was replaced by Bushey, who allowed a runner but closed out the game for the save.

“It’s kinda been our MO. Once we get punched a little bit, we punch back,” Ed Reese said.

The Cardinals will face Sandusky Perkins in the state semifinal, but there will be a significant break. They won’t play until 10 a.m. on June 13, and the winner will advance to the state championship on June 14.

Ed Reese said the team will use the week off to “sharpen up and rest” before making the trip to 7 17 Credit Union Park in Akron.

“I’m very proud of this group,” Ed Reese said. “The coaching staff’s been awesome; we have a special group. The support has been great all year, and I’m just very, very happy for our program.”