Poland gets new set of Cardinals in final

By Joe Scalzo

The Bulldogs beat Crestwood 5-3 to make the district final for the fifth straight year.

STRUTHERS — Since winning the district title in 2005, the Poland High baseball team played in three straight district finals against Canfield — and lost them all.

“It gets old,” said Bulldogs coach Rich Murray.

One group of Cardinals left — Canfield moved up to Division I this year — and another group stepped in. After defeating Mantua Crestwood 5-3 Thursday, the Bulldogs (15-8) advanced to play Mooney in today’s Division II district final at Cene Park.

“There’s absolutely a sense of urgency,” said senior Jason Simons, who pitched a five-hitter Thursday to get the win at Cene Park. “We really think we have the team and the determination to get there.

“It’s there. We want it. Bad.”

Simons (5-1) pitched on three days rest for the first time in his career and wasn’t at 100 percent, but he wasn’t about to turn down the start. He struck out four and walked three, with two of the runs earned.

“They called on me and I gave everything I had,” he said. “It was a big win. We needed it.”

Added Murray: “He’s been doing it all year for us. Hopefully we’ll give him a chance to start next weekend.”

Trent Vallinger, who singled and scored two runs against Crestwood, will start today against the Cardinals. Vallinger and Simons have shared the No. 1 pitching duties this season.

“We want to get back to the regionals, but we know we have our hands full,” said Murray.

Crestwood scored twice in the top of the third inning on back-to-back singles by Louie Zambataro and Phillip Kulesza and a double by Tony Zambataro. Poland tied it in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back singles by Ryan Rovnak and Vallinger and a double by Matt Pitzulo.

Then, in the fifth, Crestwood’s defense started to break down.

With one out, Vallinger chopped a ball a few feet in front of the plate, but catcher Tony Zambataro’s throw to first went wide, allowing Vallinger to advance to third. Mark Turnbull drove him in with a grounder to second, which was mishandled for another error. Turnbull was picked off, but Pitzulo was plunked, stole second and scored on a single by Drew Petro.

The Bulldogs added their final run in the sixth when Nick Elliott was hit and the Red Devils made two more errors.

“We were hoping if we put the ball in play they’d boot it a couple times and that’s what they did,” said Murray. “Everyone on the team contributed today. It was a good team win.”

David Lilley (3-4) got the loss, striking out three and walking three.

“I think he [Lilley] might have lost a little focus [because of the errors],” said Crestwood coach Bob Merritt, who has been at the school for 27 years. “Poland’s a fine team and in order to beat them we had to play good baseball. We made a couple errors and gave up a couple hits and you can see the results.”

Crestwood (12-13) was playing in the district semifinals for the first time in five years. The Red Devils beat second-seeded Hubbard in the sectional tournament.

“It’s a thrill to be here,” Merritt said. “It’s fun coming to play at this ballpark. We just didn’t play well enough to beat Poland, for sure.”

scalzo@vindy.com