Springfield-Tinora semifinal start time pushed back

June 7, 2013 at 12:09a.m.

COLUMBUS

Springfield High baseball coach Matt Weymer shoots from the hip.

The Mathews High graduate has a refreshing take on predicting how well his Tigers will fare in tonight’s Division IV semifinal against Defiance Tinora at Huntington Park — he’s unsure because predicting in baseball is not easy.

“At this point, there’s no film so we focus on us,” said Weymer, who will be coaching a state semifinal game for the second time in three seasons as a head coach.

“You can’t really get a lot [of scouting information] on them,” Weymer said. “They can look at our roster and see that our eighth hitter is hitting .210, but he could go 3 for 4 with two doubles.

“That’s just the way baseball works. In basketball if a kid is 6-7 when he steps out on the court, he’s still going to be 6-7.

“That’s probably the hardest part about baseball — there’s no real advance scouting,” the Miami University graduate said. “The biggest part is focusing on us and not worrying about them.”

Weymer expects Clay Pittman to start for Tinora.

“Clay Pittman looks like their Mr. Everything,” Weymer said.” He pitches, he catches — he’s a great player.”

Tinora (19-7) advanced to state by defeating McComb, 11-1, and Northwood, 13-5, in the regional.

Springfield (21-7) advanced by winning the Copley regional, defeating Seneca East, 6-0, and Cuyahoga Heights, 6-3, in a rain-delayed game.

Speaking of rain delays, today’s 1 p.m. game was pushed back to 7 p.m. when Thursday’s Division II games were postponed by rain. If Springfield advances to the championship game, it will now be played Sunday at noon instead of Saturday at 4 p.m.

Weymer said he believes Tinora compares favorably to Springfield.

“They are from a small conference with a lot of Division III and Division IV schools,” Weymer said. “They have about a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Columbus.

“They play a good schedule,” said Weymer, citing a 14-4 loss to Defiance, one of the Division II teams playing today.

Weymer said he doesn’t believe the Tigers’ experience in Columbus will make too much of a difference. In 2011, the Tigers lost to Minster, 6-0, in the state title game. Senior shortstop Cody Pitzo started in that game.

“Being there and the lay of the land and the hotels — that’s always a plus having done that once,” Weymer said. “But every game, every inning, every out seems to go by so slowly. Those state games seemed like they took forever.

“It seemed like on every pitch something [big] was going to happen,” Weymer said. “You don’t want to say stressful because it certainly isn’t and it’s an incredible experience to go.”

Dalton Donachie (7-1), who shut out Attica, will start for the Tigers.