DIV. II BASEBALL Pitcher, batting put Poland again in championship game
Lou Coppola's three-hitter over Niles secured the district semifinal triumph.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- Poland High pitcher Lou Coppola felt good before Wednesday's Division II district semifinal baseball game at Cene Park.
He felt even better when the game was over.
Coppola tossed a three-hitter, striking out seven batters as Poland cruised into the district championship game with a 9-1 victory over Niles McKinley.
The Bulldogs (16-9) will meet Canfield, a 2-1 winner over Howland in the other district semifinal, tonight at 6:30 at Cene Park.
"I really felt good warming up tonight," Coppola said. "My fastball really had some zing on it, although my curve wasn't working as well as it usually does."
Coppola never had trouble with the Red Dragons (15-12), holding them to one run, unearned, and pitched his way out of the only jam he got himself into in the sixth inning.
"I developed a little blister on my finger and it gave me some trouble early in the inning," Coppola said. "But it was nothing serious."
Poland coach Rich Murray didn't feel the Bulldogs played their best game.
"We made four errors and that's not like us," Murray said, "but we did hit the ball and Lou [Coppola] just pitched an outstanding game."
Niles starting pitcher Mike Kelly, a freshman, was tagged for seven runs and seven hits before being relived by Kyle Pitts in the fourth inning.
"I don't think it was freshman jitters or anything like that," Niles coach T.C. Guarnieri said. "We all played like we had the jitters today.
"The bottom line is that they hit the ball and we didn't," he said.
Powerful batting
Poland jumped on Kelly for a run in the first inning. The young pitcher issued a pair of walks and then the Bulldogs made him pay as Adam Wigley doubled to deep left field, driving in the first run.
Niles came back in the second to score without getting a hit as the Bulldogs made two of their four errors and Pitts drove in the run with a ground ball force out.
Poland broke open the contest in the third when it sent nine batters to the plate, had four hits, a couple of walks and some sound baserunning as the Bulldogs scored four times.
The Bulldogs added two more in the fourth with the help of two Niles errors and a double by Tom Clayton.
In the sixth inning, Poland opened with four straight singles, two of them infield hits. The fourth Niles error produced the final two runs.
Niles loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning with only one hit. Coppola struck out Sean Cleary to end the frame.
"When my team hits the ball like they did today, it's really easy to pitch," Coppola said. "I couldn't have done much without their support."
Clayton, Jim Pasquine, Wigley and Joe Renard all had two hits for the Bulldogs, who had 11 on the day.
Mike Ruscitti had two of the three Niles hits off Coppola, while Pitts had the other one.
mollica@vindy.com