Gilmour Academy ousts Springfield, 7-0

By Jon Moffett

LORAIN — The Springfield High baseball team’s streak of beating playoff opponents by double-digit runs came to an end Friday.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, so did their season as they were defeated in the Division IV regional baseball championship game by Gates Mills Gilmour Academy, 7-0.

The booming bats of Springfield were finally silenced by Gilmour ace Cody Osburn.

The victory earned the Lancers a trip to Columbus for the state tournament, the first in school history.

Gilmour had the difficult task of going up against a Springfield team that had beaten its past four opponents by at least 10 runs.

Osburn rose to the occasion and shut down an offense that had been unstoppable as of late.

“Before the game started, my arm didn’t feel that great,” Osburn said. “I knew I would have to hit my spots against this team.

“My overall goal was to throw them off-balance and not let them get comfortable.”

The southpaw allowed six hits and didn’t walk a batter, but hit two and struck out six.

Springfield coach Bob Beam acknowledged how Osburn was able to frustrate his hitters.

“He kept our guys off-balance,” Beam said. “He had a great curveball working today, and he spotted everything well. We haven’t been swinging at bad pitches all tournament, not that his pitches were bad, but we swung at them today.”

The Lancers’ offense was also impressive, getting 10 hits. Osburn had two hits, two RBIs, two stolen bases and scored once.

Springfield starter Todd Kibby started off strong, retiring the first six batters he faced. He allowed six earned runs on eight hits, striking out five and walking two.

The top of the third began with Kibby walking Gilmour catcher Pat Nally.

Base hits by Dennis Siedlak and Graham Boduszek loaded the bases for Osburn, who singled to left field, scoring two runs. Boduszek came around later in the inning, giving the Lancers a 3-0 lead early. The Lancers added two runs in the fifth and seventh.

“They did exactly what we’ve been doing,” Beam said. “They got out to a lead early and were able to hold it.

“The bottom of their lineup was the difference in the game. We knew their one-through-six hitters were good, but the key was their bottom three did more than ours.”

Springfield tried to get things going early. In the bottom of the first, after Ronnie Bovo grounded out, shortstop Travis Richey and third baseman Bryan Visingardi had back-to-back hits.

Kibby fouled out, and first baseman Dylon DeJane struck out, but reached first base after the third strike rolled to the backstop. Richey attempted to score from second on the play, but was called out at the plate.

After the first inning, hits were too sporadic to piece anything together for the Tigers.

In the bottom of the sixth, Visingardi led off with a single, but was erased when Kibby grounded into a double play.

In the bottom of the seventh, with designated hitter Matt Semach on second, Bovo struck out swinging to end the game.

Gilmour coach Ray Sharnsky wasn’t surprised by his team’s performance, but excited they played so well against a good team.

“We’ve been playing good defense all year,” Sharnsky said. “We stay in games thanks to pitching and defense. We keep the pressure on and other teams seem to have trouble handling it. I’m excited for these guys. They’ve done a good job all year.”

moffett@vindy.com