BASEBALL 9 runs in first carry Canfield

The Cardinals defeated Hubbard 13-2 in a sectional final.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANFIELD -- Before the skies opened, the Canfield High baseball team poured nine runs on Hubbard in the top of the first inning.
Behind Frank Turocy's six-hitter, Dan Leonard's three-run homer and three hits by Chad Baker, the Cardinals (19-6) cruised to a 13-2 victory Thursday in the Division II sectional final in six innings.
"We haven't been relying on one guy to come through," Canfield coach Tony Ross said. "We consistently have been hitting well from 1-to-9 in the batting order, which is a sign of a good team."
Canfield advanced to the Jefferson district where it will play Perry next Thursday.
"We haven't played all that many games at home this year, so we're used to being on the road," said Turocy of next week's trip to Ashtabula County.
"We took that real long bus ride down to Myrtle Beach, so we love being on the road and going to new places," Turocy said.
The Eagles (7-12) were treading water almost immediately when Canfield lead-off batter Brent Parks reached base on an error.
After Turocy's single, Leonard connected off Hubbard starter David DeJulio for a three-run shot over the left-field fence.
"It was a first-pitch fastball," said Leonard of the pitch he admitted he was anticipating.
Two pitches later, Baker hit a solo homer for a 4-0 lead.
Before the inning was over, Mike Turjanica, John Virtosko, Parks and Turocy all singled, setting up Baker's two-run double for the 9-0 margin.
"We're capable of doing it," said Baker of the nine-run outburst, "but we haven't done it too many times this year. We showed what we are made of tonight. Hopefully, we'll continue to do so."
Turocy said the huge lead didn't affect how he pitched.
"I just wanted to get the game going, let the defense do its job fielding the ball," said Turocy (4-2). "I wanted to throw strikes and get the game over with, but I didn't do a good job of that because I walked so many."
Turocy struck out nine, walked four and hit one batter, tossing a complete game despite a 20-minute rain delay in the third inning that soaked the field.
"We had our bats going early and Frank did a nice job of staying focused despite the rain delay," Ross said.
"He did a good job of keeping their hitters off-balance."
After Virotsko contributed a RBI single in the second inning, Hubbard scored a run when Adam Jablonski hit a two-out single, Kyren Gardner was hit by a pitch and Matt Yanik singled to right field.
In the fourth inning, Joe O'Hara homered for the Eagles' other run.
Canfield's 13-hit attack featured five extra-base hits, including doubles by Josh Geric and Tim Dewberry.
williams@vindy.com