Miscues hurt W. Reserve in Div. IV regional semifinal loss

By jon moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

Lorain

Western Reserve baseball coach Ed Anthony said his team needed timely hitting and good defense in order to advance in the Division IV regional baseball tournament.

Unfortunately, the Blue Devils got neither and were eliminated in the regional semifinals by Cuyhahoga Heights at the Pipe Yard. Several defensives miscues stalled a brief comeback, and the Blue Devils fell 9-2.

The Blue Devils (19-9) finished the 2010 season the same way they did in their last regional appearance in 2004. But an early exit in the opening round was both disappointing and surprising to Anthony.

“We didn’t just come here to turn around and lose, we came here thinking we were going to win, which I’m sure every coach does,” Anthony said.

Western Reserve committed only one error, but had several defensive snafus. Outfielders misplayed fly balls and pitchers threw balls in the dirt. While it may have been big-stage jitters, Anthony said the plays killed a lot of momentum and gave the Redskins (14-12) extra outs.

“I believe they scored six or seven runs with two outs, and that killed us,” he said. “They made some plays in the field, and unfortunately we had some errors that we haven’t made in six, seven, eight games. And when you get into this magnitude of a game, unfortunately, they’ll come back and bite you.”

While the Blue Devils seemed to struggle at times defensively, the Redskins made up for it.

At least three times there were outstanding defensive plays by the Redskins. Any Blue Devil momentum not tainted by their own mistakes was stolen by the plays.

In the third inning, a sure single by James Wolfe was stolen when Cuyahoga Heights’ Mark Lucas climbed the ladder to snag the ball. An at-bat was taken away from Jake Barker on an acrobatic, back-pedaling grab by catcher Anthony Eder. And in the seventh, right fielder Troy Janashak snared a sinking blast by Adam Smith.

“We missed by inches a few times,” Anthony said. “But you know what, I’m not taking anything away from them. That’s a solid team. They’re not a flashy group, but they play solid baseball. And at this level, at this time of year, that’s what it takes to advance.”

The Blue Devils managed only five hits off starter Austin Lane (6-3), who benefited from a strong defense and a dozen hits.

“They’re a solid team,” Anthony said. “I can see why they played the way they did against Southingtown and Maplewood.”