By Eli Halverson | July 28, 2025

Following a long and tumultuous regular season, it's finally time for postseason baseball in the GLSCL. And after a weekend sweep of their division rival Xenia Scouts, the Joes were tasked with a rematch—this time, with a trip to the league championship series on the line.

Marc Iozzo took the mound and was absolutely brilliant for Hamilton. Just recently named to the GLSCL First-Team, he came out and showed why in Game One. Iozzo threw seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and striking out five. It couldn't have set a better tone for Hamilton and stands as one of the best individual performances of the season.

However, the offense also took a while to get rolling. Xenia starter Troy Lopez was strong in his own right, holding the score at 0-0 until the sixth inning. Through five frames, Hamilton mustered only one baserunner—and after a double play, went down in order. That is, until the sixth.

In the top of the sixth, the Joes finally broke through—and blew the game wide open. Aidyn Coffey led off with a walk and, as usual, stole second. A critical Xenia error then allowed Nowak to reach and move to second with a stolen base of his own. After a Jaxson Christ walk, Hamilton suddenly had the bases loaded with nobody out. Following a strikeout, Christopher Roa worked a long, gritty at-bat and, on a 3-2 count, reached on another Xenia error—moving the runners along and giving Hamilton a 1-0 lead. They weren’t done there.

In our article earlier this week, Gavin Stark and I talked about how crucial Jackson Wang’s bat would be in this series—and that proved true in Game One. Wang came up and smashed a two-run single, stretching the lead to 3-0. Then, a sacrifice fly from Travis Yankovich put the finishing touches on a four-run Joes sixth.

Meanwhile, Iozzo continued to deal, and the bullpen backed him up. After he exited, Dylan Kaiser came in and threw a shutout eighth, and the Joes responded with more insurance in the top of the ninth.

Yankovich led off with a single and, after a steal and a flyout, advanced to third. Diego DeCello and Coffey both walked, loading the bases again. Then, another sacrifice fly—this time from Nowak—scored one, and a wild pitch brought home DeCello. Brett Denby added the final blow with an RBI single, making it 7-0 Joes.

In the bottom half, it was smooth sailing for GLSCL First-Team closer Matty Helms, who ended the game with a fitting strikeout—sealing a 7-0 Game One win for Hamilton.

What a night for the Joes. Iozzo, Kaiser, and Helms delivered on the mound, and it was no different at the plate. Hamilton only collected five hits, but took advantage of key Scouts errors and used their trademark aggressive baserunning to plate seven runs.

Hamilton will look to finish off the series and continue their hot streak in Game Two Tuesday night at Foundation Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.