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Springfield seniors hungry for return trip to Columbus
NEW MIDDLETOWN
As a couple of wide-eyed and fresh-faced sophomores, Dalton Donachie and Hunter Snyder were part of a Springfield High baseball team that played Newark Catholic to the final out of the 2013 Division IV state title game.
But as so often happens in sports, early success doesn’t mean continued success. A move up in competition to Division III can be a contributing factor to the Tigers’ early exit in the district semifinals last year, which leaves this senior class with one more shot at a return to Columbus.
“Our chemistry has come a long way from our sophomore year when we went to state,” said Donachie, who’s in his third year as the ace of the Tigers’ pitching staff.
Springfield coach Matt Weymer handed his ace the ball to start this season, as he’s done the past three years. The performance he got from Donachie on Monday even exceeded his own expectations. The 5-foot-9 right-hander threw a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a 10-0 win over Mineral Ridge.
“I don’t think I was expecting him to be that focused, but I mean you could just tell early on everything was sharp,” Weymer said. “He’s just a kid that never seems to get overwhelmed by any sort of emotions.
“When Dalton’s on the mound, we like our chances against almost everybody.”
Snyder was behind the plate on Monday, like he has been for each of Donachie’s previous two no-hitters. The four-year starter says he gets a pretty good idea of when his classmate’s in a groove.
“Coming out we knew Dalton was our ace, of course,” Snyder said. “His mindset is obviously to throw a no-hitter every game.
“For him to actually do that, that’s quite an accomplishment.”
Snyder is the Tigers’ lone Division I baseball recruit. He committed to Youngstown State last August, following the Penguins’ run to the NCAA regional tournament in Bloomington, Ind. The 5-foot-10 backstop said the team’s success and future recruiting class played a big role in his decision.
Snyder, along with many of his teammates, is a multi-sport athlete. The Tigers’ basketball team had a lengthy season, going 24-1 and reaching the district final. Their success meant a late start to baseball practice at Springfield. After the team’s district semifinal win over Lisbon, people came up to Weymer after the game to apologize — jokingly of course.
“You don’t want to root against the kids, absolutely not,” Weymer said. “But selfishly as a baseball coach, you want them to get to baseball as soon as you can. But with the experience we have, that’s one of the benefits where it might not take them as long to transition.”
Donachie, however, chose to focus on baseball a while ago. As a result, he was able to throw all winter and hit the ground running when the season started. And as he displayed, the results were pretty good.
“Really, I was just going out there, trying to throw strikes and give my team the best chance to win,” Donachie said of the no-hitter. “After a couple innings, and being successful on some pitches, you kind of get in the mindset that something big can happen or you can have a memorable game — and that’s what happened.”
If Springfield is going to make a run at Columbus, it’s going to need all hands on deck. Outfielder Ryan Kohler has speed and will be relied upon in the middle of the batting order. Brandon Chamberlain can play third base or the outfield and can also pitch. It’s not limited to the senior class either. Weymer looks at a sophomore like Russell Seymour to contribute as well.
“We know how hard it is to get [to Columbus] and we know it being our last year it’s going to be that much harder,” Donachie said.
Added Snyder, “I think we have all the tools that we need to make a run like we did a couple of years ago. This is our last hoorah.”