Cimino is tops in OAC

Cameron Cimino of Boardman and Marietta College credits the experience he gained while playing baseball in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball Association last summer for helping him become the top hitter in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

“That league was good because we were facing good pitchers and they were pitchers who were looking to go [NCAA Division I], and it was a new environment,” said Cimino, a senior third baseman and three-year starter for Marietta, who was named the Jack Rafeld OAC Player of the Year while being selected to the All-OAC first team.

Cimino led the OAC in two statistical categories — batting average (.439 on 72-for-164) and total bases (124) — and topped Marietta in 12 categories, including slugging percentage (.756), hits (72), doubles (16) and runs scored (51).

He also was No. 1 in walks (35), stolen base percentage (1.000), total plate appearances (204), at-bats (164) and games played (44).

Cimino said that widening his stance last year also made him a better hitter.

“I opened my stance when I came home from the league at the end of the summer [and] I opened up my stance [this season] and I have been able to hit better and drive the ball more,” said Cimino, who has helped Marietta to a 30-15 record.

That mark includes a 14-3 win over host Adrian (Mich.) Thursday in the Pioneers’ opening game of the NCAA Mideast Regional tournament at Nicolay Field.

In that game, Cimino had a double, single and one RBI as Marietta advanced to play Wooster today at 5:30 p.m.

“I heard a lot how guys widened their stance to see the ball better. It allows you to put two eyes on the pitcher,” said Cimino, the son of James and Marta Cimino. “Because when you close your [stance], you are fighting against your body and aren’t seeing the pitches as well. I tried it when I came home later in the summer and liked it, and started hitting pretty good.

“When I opened it up I was able to turn on the ball easier and began hitting the ball to all fields with good pop.”

Cameron also had a .915 fielding percentage with 15 putouts, 50 assists and six errors.

Marietta finished the regular season at 29-15, including 12-6 to tie for runner-up in the OAC with Otterbein behind Heidelberg (15-3), under sixth-year coach Brian Brewer.

The Pioneers also were runners-up in the OAC tournament, losing the final game to Heidelberg, 5-1, but still received one of the 13 at-large bids to the NCAA Division III tournament.

Cimino, who played for coach Scott Knox at Boardman High, was able to play for the South Bay Saints in the wooden-bat Southern California league last summer because he was in Los Angeles doing a work internship to fulfill his academic requirements.

“I worked for Dedicated Media, an internet advertising company that sells advertising spaces on the Web. I recorded all the transactions and numbers and e-mailed them to the clients,” said Cimino, who is majoring in advertising and public relations. “I liked it a lot. I don’t know if I will do that for my career. I enjoyed L.A. It was a good time and liked it a lot.”

Cimino enjoyed a breakout season last year as a junior, leading the team in hits (47), doubles (11), triples (3), RBIs (39), slugging percentage (.622) and walks (26), and ranking second in home runs (5) and third in batting average (.370 on 47-for-127). He was selected to the All-OAC first team and All-Region second team.

XJohn Kovach writes about college sports for The Vindicator. E-mail him at kovach@vindy.com.