Re-print with permission from Toledo Blade

College players seek extra at-bats, chance to win with Ohio Monarchs

Ryan Mouch, a St. John's grad who plays at Oberlin, scores for the Ohio Monarchs Gold while Ohio Monarchs Blue catcher Michael Fahle, a Woodmore grad who plays at BGSU, waits on the throw. ( THE BLADE/LORI KING ) Zoom | Photo Reprints

Former high school baseball rivals have banded together this summer in pursuit of a World Series title.

Players from 22 area high schools who now play at the college level have teamed up as part of the Ohio Monarchs amateur baseball team. The Monarchs have Gold and Blue teams that compete in the National Amateur Baseball Federation. They are in the midst of a 50-game summer schedule.

Gold coach Ed Mouch, who also coaches at Southview High School, said his team consists of the best collegiate players who competed in the City League, Northern Lakes League, and other area conferences.

"They were rivals. But now that they've gotten together, they all get along very well," Mouch said. "When they were on opposite teams they were highly competitive with each other, especially in high school when you're competing for championships. But in this situation, they all respect each other and they all know what they can do."

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As far as Drew Kuns is concerned, the NABF College World Series won't get here soon enough.

“I can't wait,” said Kuns, a designated hitter/first baseman for the Ohio Monarchs Gold team. “It's going to be great. Our team's good; we're on a streak right now.” 

“We're hoping to go in there and dominate like they did two years ago - go in there and win,” Kuns said. “We have great chemistry because we're all from around Toledo. We all played with each other in high school and now we can join together to make a good team. It's up there with the teams I've played on. It's the second-best team I've played on in the summer. There's some great talent on this team.”

Kuns, a Clay graduate, was the City League Player of the Year in 2009. A sophomore-to-be at Bowling Green State University, Kuns said he's looking forward to helping the Monarchs regain the NABF World Series title they won in 2008.

In a battle of intra-organizational rivals, Monarchs Blue and Gold faced off against one another Monday night at 5/3 Field in Toledo. The highly anticipated game featured Gold and Blue team who sit first and second atop the league standings respectively. With high octane scoring and some late inning drama, the contest didn’t disappoint with Monarchs Gold outlasting a late rally from Monarchs Blue to win 8-5.

Gold played visitor in this one and got the scoring started right away. Corey Lehman hit a leadoff single followed by a bunt from Adam Yunker. Starting pitcher Dan Parsons for Monarchs Blue sailed the throw over the first baseman’s glove allowing Lehman to advance to third and Yunker to second. Drew Kuns immediately brought home Lehman with an RBI double. One batter later, Casey Winckowski brought home Yunker with an RBI ground out to put Gold on the board with two runs in the first.

Blue answered in the bottom half of the inning with a run of their own. Nick Broyles singled to lead off, and after consecutive walks to Ben Hammer and Tad Margolies, Blue had the bases loaded with one out. Matt Vannet brought home Broyles with an RBI fielder’s choice, but pitcher Kirk Stambough for Gold ended the inning with a strikeout to limit the damage done to one run and preserving a one run lead.