Second season awaits baseball, softball teams

By TOM WILLIAMS and JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports writers

A year ago, Poland High softball coach Reid Lamport wasn’t sure what to expect when he inserted three freshmen into his starting lineup.

Those Bulldogs, led by Erin Gabriel’s young arm, didn’t stop until they reached the Division II regional final, losing 1-0 to Tallmadge to finish 27-4.

This year, the Bulldogs (22-1) are even better.

Much better.

Poland is ranked No. 2 in Division II statewide and Lamport says the Bulldogs are playing the most challenging schedule in his 21 years as head coach.

“We’ve played 15 Division I schools and have entered four [weekend] tournaments,” said Lamport who has 465 career victories. “We’re playing teams as good as we can find.”

Lamport credits the leadership of sophomores Gabriel (15-0 this season, 32-3 overall) and cleanup batter/third baseman Jenna Modic for priming the Bulldogs for their first state appearance since 2002.

“Erin and Jenna have distanced themselves from the average high school player,” Lamport said. “Erin has the maturity as a sophomore that is rarely seen in seniors.

“She has all the pitches and the attitude in the circle that you need to have,” Lamport said. “She’s the reason [we] can compete with anyone.”

Lamport cited the contributions of senior first baseman Nicole White and junior right fielder Adriana Sikora for the Bulldogs’ improved run production.

“Nicole is hitting very well from the five-spot and that’s important because we needed a couple of good hitters behind Jenna.

“Adriana has really stepped it up in the leadoff position,” said Lamport, explaining that her batting average has improved 300 points. “She’s hitting in the low .500s.”

Other seniors are second baseman Jessica D’Apolito whose batting average is above .400, outfielder Jordan Palumbo and catcher Megan Hirschbeck.

Sophomores include shortstop Kalie Benson and utility player Emily Chandler.

Poland won the All-American Conference Red Tier title, while Struthers (White) and Champion (Blue) also won AAC crowns. In Tier One of the Inter Tri-County League, South Range captured the title, while Western Reserve won Tier Two.

Sectional baseball and softball tournaments begin this week and while Poland is trying to take a couple extra steps from 2009, the Ursuline softball team only wants to take one.

Led by first-team All-Ohio pitcher Casey Lower, the Irish (17-4) are ranked fifth in the state in Division III, one spot ahead of Champion. Ursuline lost to Hebron Lakewood in last year’s state championship game.

Lower, who earned a full ride to Columbia University with a combination athletic/academic scholarship, won her 81st career game on Saturday and is one win away from 18th place on the state’s all-time list.

Molly Binz of Springfield Kenton Ridge holds the record with 108.

“She could care less about the win record,” said Ursuline coach Michael Kernan. “She’s all about coming to play every day and doing what she can to help the team. That’s the greatest thing about the kid.

“I’m just fortunate and blessed to be her coach and have her on our team. I’m going to ride her as our horse as long as I can. Hopefully there’s a little more ride to go in that horse.”

In prep baseball, Girard (AAC Blue), Hubbard (AAC White) and McDonald (ITCL Tier Two) have already captured league titles. Canfield, which is 6-1 in the AAC Red, holds a half-game lead over Poland and can win the league outright today when it resumes its suspended game with the Bulldogs.

The game, which resumes at 4:30 p.m. at Eastwood Field, is tied 4-4 in the sixth inning. The Cardinals have runners on first and second with one out.

Canfield competes in Division II but has loaded its schedule with Division I schools — including Warren Harding, which beat the Cardinals last week — to prepare his players for top competition.

“We play a very difficult schedule in the regular season,” said coach Matt Koenig, who led the Cardinals to a Division II state title in 2007. “Hopefully those teams will get us ready for the tournament.”

South Range’s baseball team came up just short in its quest for an ITCL Tier One title — the Raiders’ lost to Columbiana on Saturday to finish a game behind Springfield — but coach Jim Hanek feels his top-seeded team benefited from playing meaningful games down the stretch.

“This is what you want this time of year,” said Hanek, whose team competes in Division III. “Obviously [we were] in the chase for the league title but obviously we’re looking ahead to tournament time as well and making sure we’re peaking.”

The Tigers, meanwhile, are looking to repeat last year’s magical run, which saw them fall to Hamler Patrick Henry in the Division IV state final. Springfield finished 12-2 in the ITCL.