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Top seeds alive at Bob Cene Park
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
As Division I gets set to crown its district champion today, Division II action gets under way with two games on tap beginning at 4 p.m. at Bob Cene Park.
The top four seeds, as predicated by coaches at the Northeast Board’s May 4 draw, have all advanced to semifinal action.
Today’s openers will feature No. 1 seed Cardinal Mooney as they take on fourth-seeded Canfield while No. 2 Poland plays host to No. 3 West Branch.
It’s a division that coach Al Franceschelli of the top-seeded Cardinals (16-2) calls wide open, noting that any of the four remaining teams are capable of moving on to regional play.
“Canfield is a great program with a rich, winning baseball tradition. They’ve gone to the state three times, won a state title and are a formidable district foe,” Franceschelli said.
“We last played when we faced Lakeview in the sectional finals six days ago and while baseball is all about timing and repetition, the weather hasn’t allowed any team this spring to stay on top of their games. At this time of the year you need to have 25 or 26 games in and we’ve only been able to play 18.”
Franceschelli and staff will decide early today who will draw the starting assignment; their decision resting on one more throwing session Monday among Gino DiVincenzo, Joe Cunningham and Andrew Armstrong.
Canfield (13-7) will give the ball to either lefty Alec Hammond (4-1) or Jimmy Leone (4-2).
Once 7-7, the Cardinals have reeled off six straight wins, including a 4-0 whitewashing of Struthers in the sectional finals to advance to district play.
“Our pitching has been strong all season long and after struggling to a .500 mark after the first 14 games, we finally started to figure things out,” Canfield coach Matt Koenig said. “We started putting players in motion, got some clutch hits, played small ball and good things began to happen. That wasn’t the case earlier in the season.”
When Leone isn’t on the hill he’s in center field and hits at a .350 clip.
Catcher Carter Rhoads (.400) and shortstop Edmond Pilolli (370) are key offensive threats while Luke Kelty (.400) has made the most of limited at bats by cashing in on those opportunities.
The other semifinal game will feature Poland (16-5), which last won a district title in 2011 and West Branch (14-10), a team that defeated the Bulldogs, 7-4 ,earlier in the season.
Poland enters district play having won seven of its last eight outings and sports a 1.98 team ERA.
Pat Carlozzi (6-1) draws the starting assignment from coach Rich Murray. Jared Burkert (3-1) and Adam Knights (3-1) have combined with Carlozzi to post 12 of their teams’ 16 overall wins.
“We have an excellent defensive team but the key to victory for us is a strong outing by Pat, scoring a handful of runs early and then holding the lead,” Murray said. “We must limit scoring opportunities by West Branch as well.”
Carlozzi (.350) plays the outfield when he isn’t on the hill while lead-off hitter Chase Knodle will be counted on to set the table in much the same manner he has during the regular season.
The Warriors stopped Niles McKinley, 12-1 (five innings) in sectional play to advance to district as pitchers Jeff Bizzuco (5-3, 2.59) and Kip DeShields (7-1, 1.82) have combined to register all but two of their teams’ victories.
Bizzuco, who pitched against the Bulldogs earlier in the season, draws the starting assignment from coach Shawn Alazaus; a seven-year minor-league veteran who was drafted in the 13th round by the New York Yankees in 1972.
“This is an exciting time for all of us. It’s a tough division with four excellent teams, but I feel like we have an excellent shot if we play up to our capabilities,” Alazaus said. “Poland is good offensively and they have a solid lineup so this should be an interesting two-day series.”
The Warriors will look for offensive punch from clean-up hitter Jerian Thomas (.329), Dylan Greenawalt (.355) and catcher Jake Smith (.370), whom Alazaus describes as his best overall player.
The Division I final will take place at 6:30 p.m.