Bombers sorry to leave 'Cene' of success

Windham eliminated Columbiana, 7-3, in the district final.
By PAUL TRGOVAC
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- No one would be surprised if the Windham High baseball team tried to schedule all of its games at Bob Cene Park.
Saturday, the Bombers won their third straight district title by defeating Columbiana, 7-3, in Division IV. Windham (11-7) will play in the regional tournament in Elyria on Friday.
"We have never lost here in the district, knock on wood," Windham coach Brian Kiser said.
Columbiana (14-14) came out in the top of the first and took a quick 2-0 lead. A leadoff walk to Kyle Wolfe was followed by a run-scoring double by Mike Welce who reached third on the throw. Jeff Rupert followed with a single to drive home the second run.
Windham scored one time in its half of the frame on a walk, stolen base, and a single by Brent Fincham.
Offense comes to halt
The Clippers scored their last run in the top of the third. Wolfe led off with a triple and was driven home on a sacrifice fly by Billy Couchenour. Wolfe's hit was the last of the game for the Clippers, as Windham freshman pitcher Cody Apthorpe allowed just three runners the rest of the way. Two reached on walks and one on an error.
"Apthorpe is a freshman in class only. He played on the basketball team [which reached the state tournament], he plays a lot of summer ball," said Kiser.
Windham tied the score in the bottom of the fourth. A leadoff walk to Kyle Cooper was followed by a single by Matt Heller. After a force out at second put runners on the corners Josh Sweet drove home both runners with a double to center.
The Bombers capitalized on a couple of errors to score four unearned runs in the fifth. Apthorpe led off the inning with a single, then a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt moved him to third. Columbiana starter, sophomore Ryan Williams, got the next man to ground back to the mound for the second out.
An error on a ball hit by Cooper scored the go-ahead run, Heller followed with his second hit, and Fincham greeted relief pitcher Pat Sposato with double which scored two more runs. A second error allowed the last run to score.
"We put the ball in play to force the other team to make the play," said Kiser.
"The success of the basketball team has put a little pressure on these guys and our kids expect to do well. We got a late start because of the basketball team and were just 2-4 early but I felt we could do it," he added.
Pitching rundown
Apthorpe (5-1) had eight strikeouts and walked three, and added two hits at the plate.
Williams (0-3) allowed just three earned runs in 42/3 innings. He allowed five hits and had two strikeouts. Wolfe pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts.
"We started out strong the first couple of innings, then we made some mistakes and their pitcher got into a groove," said Columbiana coach Matt Campbell. "They made some plays and we didn't and you can't do that against a quality team."
Campbell added, "Ryan was outstanding, coming back from an injury, especially in his first tournament performance."