A Warrior on the mound: West Branch tops Poland, 6-3

By John Kovach

Tyler Newhart kept the Bulldog batters at bay as the Warriors advanced to the regional final.

HUDSON — Unlike most pitchers, senior Tyler Newhart of West Branch usually grows stronger and throws the ball harder as the game progresses.

Newhart did exactly that Thursday against Poland High in a Division II regional semifinal baseball game at Hudson High field, in addition to being especially tough in the clutch and having control of all of his pitches.

That spelled trouble for the Bulldogs, who fell into a 6-0 hole and then saw their comeback short-circuited by leaving seven runners on base in the third, fourth and fifth innings combined.

The result: Newhart, who is headed to Wright State on scholarship, wound up with a seven-hittter, nine strikeouts and no walks over the distance, as West Branch eliminated Poland, 6-3, to advance into today’s regional championship game.

The Warriors (18-11) will meet Chardon Notre Dame Cathedral Latin (21-5) at 2 p.m. ND-CL defeated Parma Heights Holy Name 6-5 in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Newhart (10-3) was backed by Evan Campbell’s two-run homer to right in the second inning, and Jarrod Harris’ two-run single in the first inning.

Newhart also was helped by four Poland errors in that first inning, two on misplayed infield fly balls lost in the sun, and the other two on one play on a bobbled infield grounder and bad throw to first base, which set up West Branch’s 3-0 lead.

“Usually I get stronger in the later innings because we are leading toward the end of the game,” said Newhart, who bested Jason Simons (6-2), who threw a six-hitter with three strikeouts and two walks. “I picked [my performance] up with the men on base. I throw my fastball between 88-92 mph.”

But Newhart also lauded his teammates. “My team hit the ball well and gave me confidence. I had good [defense] behind me. It was a great all-around performance.”

West Branch scored another run in the first inning on Poland’s double error, and got its other tally in the third on Trent Woods’ single.

Poland scored its first run in the third inning on Mark Turnbull’s single, but the Bulldogs left two men stranded. The Bulldogs then loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, then Newhart retired the next three batters to leave all runners stranded. Poland also left two men on base in the fifth.

The Bulldogs got their other two runs in the last of the seventh inning on Matt Pitzulo’s two-run triple with one out, but Newhart retired the last two batters.

“He had good command of his speedball and curveball and off-speed stuff. He was not losing his velocity with his fastball,” said West Branch coach Lynn Grove of Newhart.

Coach Rich Murray of Poland (16-9) also gave Newhart his due.

“The kid’s tough and I’m sure that had something to do with [Poland’s hitting woes]. He worked low.

“We left seven guys on base in those three innings,” he added. “We don’t usually do that. We usually do a good job knocking in runs.

“Those four errors [in the first inning] killed us. Baseball is not like basketball where you can get down by 10 points and chip away at the lead. That changed a lot of the game and we pressed a little bit.”

Campbell and Harris finished with two hits apiece for West Branch, as did Poland’s Turnbull and Pitzulo.

kovach@vindy.com