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Ace Gabriel settles to tame Boardman
By TOM WILLIAMS
POLAND
The way Poland senior pitcher Sean Gabriel struggled in the first inning of Saturday’s 9-1 victory over Boardman, few expected him to throw the final pitch of the game.
But after needing 29 pitches to get the first three outs, the Youngstown State University recruit settled down, throwing 71 more to retire 18 more Spartans for the Bulldogs’ 13th win.
“Good pitchers, when they are given a chance to work, usually work out of whatever trouble they have early,” Boardman coach Jack Hay said. “That’s when you get to a good pitcher, early in the game.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t take advantage of some opportunities early,” Hay said. “He got back on his game and kinda shut us down.”
As a chilly rain fell at the game’s start, Gabriel was shaky. An error and two walks loaded the bases for the Spartans (6-9).
Gabriel escaped without allowing a run when Joe Markovich turned a 2-2 pitch into a flyout.
“I was just trying to throw strikes but the ball gets slippery,” said Gabriel (3-1). “Defensively, they did a good job behind me.
“As the game went on, [the weather] got a little bit nicer. I wish it would have started out like this.”
In his first at-bat, Gabriel hit a RBI double to left-center that put Poland ahead, 1-0.
The Spartans tied the game in the top of the second inning despite not getting a hit. Tyler Blangero reached base on an error and took third after a walk and a sacrifice bunt. He scored on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs (13-2) regained the lead after Conner Schultheis reached base on a fielder’s choice then scored on Jim Dobran’s two-out triple to center field. An overthrow at third base sent Dobran home for a 3-1 Poland lead.
“I knew it was in the gap so I just kept running,” Dobran said. “It’s been a really good year, we’re playing really well as a team.
“Everyone’s contributing — we don’t have one bad hitter in our lineup, we field well and we’ve got depth at pitching,” said Dobran who had two hits and three RBIs.
“Jimmy’s batting near .600,” Poland coach Rich Murray said of his leadoff batter. “He has such good speed that if he hits a ground ball, he has a good chance of getting a base hit.”
Spartans reliever Jon Wilshusen walked three batters in Poland’s third at-bat and all three scored to make it 6-1. Clay Cooper’s two-out single drove in two runs.
“We’ve getting better ... at getting two-out hits,” Murray said.
Gabriel struck out five batters and walked three
“He was falling behind batters early, but in the second and third innings he started to work ahead [in the count],” Murray said. “That makes a world of difference.
“He’s been doing a great job lately of keeping the ball down low,” Murray said. “We’re happy with his performance today.
Gabriel’s sister, Erin, is the sophomore ace on Poland’s strong softball team. As he answered questions, a teammate chided him with “tell him about Erin.”
Asked if conversations about pitching in his house are interesting, Gabriel replied, “It gets a little heated sometimes. She’s really good.”
Dobran said Gabriel “tends to start off a little bit slower but he gets stronger as the game goes on. He definitely showed that today.”