Bulldogs find a way to play another day

Poland rallied from a4-3 deficit in the bottom of the seventhto beat Ravenna.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- Perseverance paid off for senior Ken Cutrone and the Poland High baseball team Tuesday night in a Division II district tournament semifinal game at Cene Park.
Cutrone, who hasn't played very much this season and has been used usually as a designated hitter or pinch hitter, had entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and slashed a line drive, run-scoring single.
So when he came to bat again in the last of the seventh inning with two runners on base, two outs and the Bulldogs trailing, 4-3, the fans were hoping that maybe Cutrone could do it again, that perhaps he is sleeper whose time has come.
And it did.
Cutrone hammered a two-run triple up against the right-center field fence against reliever Ryan Meers to drive in Mark Turnbull and David White, to lift Poland to a comeback 5-4 win over Ravenna and into the district final.
Turnbull had reached first on an error and White was hit by a pitch top set the table for Cutrone's bat.
"[Cutrone] hasn't played too much. But he never gave up and he would come out to practice hitting," said coach Rich Murray of Poland. "He is a great kid. A player will get his day and he did tonight. He got his day."
Poland vs. Canfield
The Bulldogs (16-10) will take on Canfield tonight at 8 at Cene Park for the district championship.
Coach Justin Mulheim of Ravenna (15-10) explained what he thinks happened when Cutrone went to bat against Meers, who had struck out the last three Poland batters in the sixth inning to limit Poland's rally to two runs and still a 4-3 deficit.
"It was a 2-1 fastball over the plate. I'm sure that was what [Cutrone] was looking for," said Mulheim. "We had the right [pitcher] in there." But, "Meers fell behind on the batter [with two balls and one strike]," and grooved the next pitch down the middle.
"[Meers] threw some close pitches and the calls could have gone either way."
Poland rallies to within 4-3
Poland got its two runs in the sixth inning to cut the gap to 4-3 on Cutrone's single after Matt Pitzulo singled, White walked and Kevin Koval singled to load the bases.
Then Meers relieved starter Cory Tilden, and Trent Vallinger walked to force in another run before Meers fanned the side to make it 4-3.
Ravenna took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning by scoring both runs on errors.
Poland cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth on Koval's sacrifice fly that brought in Pitzulo.
Then in the sixth inning, Murray brought in ace pitcher Lou Coppola to relieve starter Logan Wigley, but Coppola gave up Jared Bowen's two-run triple that scored Sean Meers who singled and Tilden who walked off Coppola that built the Ravens' lead to 4-1.
But then Coppola finally found his form and had a strong finish three strikeouts the rest of the way to get the win.
The 6-foor-7 Coppola, who is headed for the University of Cincinnati on a baseball scholarship, and Meers both finished with four strikeouts.
"We figured if we got down by any runs, we would bring in Coppola," said Murray. Because, "Wigley would have been facing the Ravenna lineup three times," and Murray didn't want the Ravens to take advantage of that.
Coppola's status today
Murray said he is unsure if Coppola will start today against Canfield.
A pitcher is allowed to pitch 10 innings on back-to-back days.
Murray said that comebacks are nothing new to Poland.
"We've done this before. We were down 10-0 against Howland. We did it a couple times this year," said Murray. "The team believes in themselves."
Mulheim said that he was impressed by the high caliber of the game.
"It is a shame the either team had to lose," he said.
kovach@vindy.com