East Palestine’s bats go silent in 10-0 loss

Jordan Wilhite pitched a two-hitter for Woodridge, which will play Ursuline.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

STRUTHERS — East Palestine used an eight-run rally Thursday night en route to a 10-9 win over Springfield. Friday the Bulldogs couldn’t even score a run in the Division III district championship game.

Woodridge (26-2), behind the two-hit pitching of Jordan Wilhite, walked off with their second straight district crown, winning 10-0 in a five-inning contest at Cene Park.

East Palestine coach John Snyder said his team had nothing to be ashamed of.

“We certainly would have loved to have given them a better game, but it’s no disgrace to lose to that team, they are one of the best around,” Snyder said.

“It’s been good to get back to the district finals two years in a row, but unfortunately we’ve had to go up against Woodridge both times,” Snyder added. “They are well-coached and an excellent team. We just didn’t hit the ball today.”

Ursuline is next

Woodridge advanced to the Division III regional tournament next Thursday when they will meet Ursuline in a 2 p.m. contest in Massillon.

Wilhite (8-1), who retired the first 11 batters he faced, finished with six strikeouts. He had plenty of offensive support as Woodridge pounded out nine hits, including five for extra bases led by Fred Guerra with three hits including a triple, while Joe Lewandowski added a pair of doubles.

“We came up with the timely hits today and Jordan was in complete control out there, while the defense played very solid,” said Woodridge coach Dennis Dever.

Woodridge came up with a pair of double plays on the day that kept Wilhite out of any serious trouble and East Palestine never had a runner get as far as second base.

Woodridge has strong start

Woodridge opened the contest with a three-run first inning. Allen James opened the inning with a double and moved to third on Guerra’s infield single. After Nick Jones walked to load the bases, Dave Krusinski’s ground out scored one run and Lewandowski’s first double plated two more.

Woodridge kept the game from going past the fifth inning by rallying for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Guerra had two hits in the inning, including an RBI triple, while Mike DeBord and Lewandowski both had RBI doubles. Guerra also drove in two runs with his second single of the inning.

East Palestine (18-5) had only singles by Nick Baiamonte in the fourth and Web Best in the fifth as Wilhite faced only 16 batters.

mollica@vindy.com