PREP BASEBALL Poland's Yost jams Lakeview

David Yost led Poland to the Division II district championship.
By BILL SULLIVAN
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- When Lakeview High got runners on the corners with one out in the sixth inning, Poland junior pitcher David Yost had them right where he wanted them.
Yost chalked up his 10th strikeout, then induced a groundball out to silence the only major Lakeview threat as Poland won the Division II district baseball tournament 5-0 Saturday.
Yost (6-1) threw a six-hitter, walked just two and allowed only one flyball out to lead Poland to the Cene Park regional, where on Friday at 2 p.m. the Metro Athletic Conference champions will face the winner of today's Canfield-Canton Central Catholic district final in Jefferson.
"It's probably my best game of the year," Yost said. "I was hitting my spots, my stuff was working good, I got ahead of guys."
Scoring position
Lakeview managed to get runners to second base in three of the first four innings, but each time Yost was up to the task.
Meanwhile, Poland (23-3) used three singles to score twice in the first inning. Poland got at least one hit in every inning.
"It's so easy to pitch when you have a big lead like that," Yost said of his support. "You don't have to worry about anything. You go out and do your stuff."
In addition to his 10 strikeouts over six innings, Yost's defense recorded four groundball outs, produced a double play and caught a Lakeview runner trying to steal.
"That double play in the first inning was a huge play," Poland coach Steve Rohan said. "Pretty much all season, our defense has been very strong."
The double play, with a runner on second base, was started by senior shortstop Jon Habuda. He also effectively handled two other grounders and added a single and a double.
Yost was lifted in the seventh inning, replaced by senior lefty Cole Budinsky, who struck out two.
"David wasn't as sharp as he's been, but when he gets ahead of guys, he's really hard to hit," said Rohan. "The middle innings he was getting ahead of guys and he kind of just put guys away.
"Then the big guy [Budinsky] I brought in at the end, he's a great complement. Both those kids are very good pitchers."
Senior-dominated
Rick DiMuzio added two RBI singles, sophomore Adam Wigley doubled off the wall and David Koval singled twice for Poland, which has 10 seniors on the squad.
"We got seven of our nine guys returning [from last season] so we're experienced and expecting nothing less," said Yost of advancing to the regional. "This is just the first step in what we want to do."
Rohan said the sixth inning was the pivotal moment of the game. After Yost escaped the top of the frame, Poland scored twice with two outs to make it 5-0.
"We come up in the bottom of the sixth and we put together two runs with two outs, that's huge," said Rohan.
Greg Bugno and Pat Stocz each had two of the seven hits by Lakeview (16-8).
sullivan@vindy.com