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Howland loses momentum, game after rain delay
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Howland catcher Tyler Spain looks on after Aurora scored on a squeeze during the bottom of the fifth inning of their rain-delayed Division I district semifinal baseball game Thursday at Cene Park in Struthers. The Greenmen rallied to ousted Tigers, 12-6.
By STEVE WILAJ
STRUTHERS
Leading 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Howland had everything going in its favor. Starting pitcher Jake Froats was cruising and the Tigers bats were firing as they seemed well on their way to defeating Aurora.
But suddenly, that momentum was halted — and it had nothing to do with the Greenmen. Because of heavy rainstorms, the Division I district semifinal game was delayed for one hour and eight minutes.
“We didn’t want to stop,” said Howland coach Sean Price.
When play resumed, it was a totally different scene. Aurora outscored the Tigers 12-1 after the delay, resulting in a 12-6 victory Thursday at Cene Park.
“We’re on top, so we want to play it out obviously,” Price said. “But they didn’t stop and came right at us.”
The Greenmen (25-5) scored one in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Joey Zidones before exploding for a seven-run fifth inning.
Paul Pistone started the rally with a two-run triple. Aurora then followed with consecutive successful suicide squeeze plays.
The first squeeze was by Frank Sivillo, who drove in Pistone. With two outs, Zidones completed the second suicide squeeze to tie the game at 5.
“That’s gutsy,” Price said. “They did a nice job. You still gotta make the play, but they did a nice job.”
The Greenmen’s Andy Weber finished the inning with a bases-loaded triple to give Aurora an 8-5 advantage. Froats was knocked from the mound during the frame, lasting 41/3 innings while allowing eight hits and three runs.
Price said the delay was detrimental to Froats.
“He got cold, the mound got a little slippery on him and he had a hard time throwing strikes,” Price said. “His velocity was still there, but he just couldn’t find the strike zone.”
Kurtis Kuszmaul and John-Mark Weisman didn’t fare any better in relief. In one inning of work, Kuszmaul allowed six runs on five hits. Weisman surrendered three runs in 2/3 of an inning. The two Tigers pitchers allowed Aurora’s four-run sixth inning.
“Once they had the momentum, they just fed into it and started hitting the ball,” Price said.
Zidones and Matt Carpenter each collected three hits for the Greenmen. Zidones and Weber each had three RBIs. Tyler Thomas, Jake Czerwiski and Nick Ely all had two hits.
The winning pitcher was Adam Berger, going four innings in relief while allowing one run and striking out five.
Weisman, Joey Shver, Tyler Spain and Froats had two hits apiece for Howland (16-11).
“As a team, we worked real hard to get our runs and the kids battled all season,” Price said. “They never quit any games. We got beat sometimes, but we never quit any games.”