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Wrask, Donachie spark Springfield
By Joe Catullo Jr.
COPLEY
During the bottom of the third inning in a battle between two Tigers, one swing of the bat changed everything.
Joey Wrask stepped to the plate, Mason McWilliams threw a first-pitch curveball right down the middle and Wrask crushed a grand slam over the left-field wall.
“I don’t know how in the world he guessed that,” Seneca East coach Frank Lamoreaux said.
Springfield starter Dalton Donachie, who was in the hole, could not have been happier.
“I don’t think I ever had a bigger smile on my face,” Donachie said. “I just seen the ball go way over. I was like, ‘It’s up to me now, and thank God I got some run support.’ ”
Donachie shut Seneca East down and allowed only one hit in a 6-0 victory, advancing Springfield (19-7) to a Division IV Regional final.
“I thrive on the big games,” Donachie said. “That’s when I want to pitch. That’s when I want to show what I’m made of. I just go out there, have confidence in myself and my team that they’re going to make the plays for me.”
In the complete-game shutout, Donachie also allowed four walks, hit two batters and struck out four (three looking). Jordan Boweman’s two-out single in the fifth inning was the lone hit for Seneca East (23-5).
“That’s just a kid who’s pitched in a lot of big games,” Springfield coach Matt Weymer said. “When it came down to it, he didn’t let the moment get to him.”
Offensively, Springfield struggled against McWilliams, who also went the distance. He allowed six runs on four hits, five walks, hit three and struck out nine. Weymer said McWilliams was the best his team faced this season.
“He was everything as advertised, and he did not disappoint,” Weymer said. “When he came out in the first inning, you knew you wouldn’t get a lot. We told our guys, ‘When we get our chance at this level, you got to cash in.’ I didn’t think we would cash in with a grand slam, but moral of the story is we did cash in.”
Weymer added that drawing five walks and getting plunked three times was another huge factor. Before Wrask’s grand slam, two batters reached via the free pass, and Donachie’s RBI single in that third inning came after another walk.
“It’s a little uncharacteristic of Mason because he’s really been throwing well,” Lamoreaux said. “They put a little rally there, got the big hit, and we didn’t get the big hit. When we did hit it hard, we hit it right at someone. It’s a story of balls having to find a hole sometimes, and tonight they didn’t.”
Springfield will face Cuyahoga Heights at 5 p.m. today for a regional title.