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Canfield baseball answers coach’s challenge
By Steve Wilaj
CANFIELD
Canfield head coach Matt Koenig challenged his hitters prior to Monday’s matchup with Howland.
Stemming from the Cardinals’ inability to score runs as they lost two of three games over the weekend, he was simply looking for somebody to “be that guy.”
“Before the game we talked about pushing runners across,” Koening said. “We’ve stranded a lot of guys the last four or five games, so that was our focus today.”
Challenge accepted.
Defeating the Tigers, 14-4, in five innings, Canfield pounded out 13 hits as the Cardinals scored 12 runs from the third to the fifth inning. Ryan Cheslik led the way with four hits — including two doubles — Kyle Kovach notched two hits and five RBIs and Mike Sebes recorded a double and a triple.
“Coach said, ‘Be that guy,’” Kovach said. “So everybody wanted to get up in a situation with runners on. That was our main focus. If guys were on, do your job to get everybody over and score them and that’s what we did.”
Anthony Vross was “that guy” in the second inning when his two-out RBI single gave Canfield a 2-1 lead. The Cardinals (10-6, 5-1 AAC) then scored four in the third, keyed by a Cheslik RBI double and Pete Hernandez run-scoring triple.
“We weren’t getting the big hit the past few games,” Koenig said. “ But just our approach today was fantastic and I commend the boys for bouncing back after a tough weekend.”
The Cardinals’ biggest inning came in the fourth when they scored five runs. Kovach brought home three runners on a bases-loaded single combined with a throwing error, before Joe Delucia notched a two-out RBI single.
Kovach then scored three more Cardinals in the fifth inning on another bases-loaded single and error.
“Everyone swung the bat well,” Kovach said. “We really just got a couple of those clutch hits that we were looking for.”
Howland starter Steve Hornak took the brunt of the Canfield offense as he allowed 10 earned runs on 11 hits in 42/3 innings.
Meanwhile, Cardinals starter Joe Machuga earned the victory. He went five innings and surrendered four earned runs on nine hits.
“He’s a competitor and he was throwing strikes,” Koenig said. “As long as we can let our defense play a little bit, I think we’ll be in just about every ball game.”
Zach Nites led the Howland offense with a single, double and two RBIs. Craig Lewis also notched two hits for the Tigers (6-6, 4-4).
“[Canfield] really hit the ball today,” Howland coach Sean Price said. “We played pretty solid defensively. We hit the ball, too — a lot of balls at them and they made the plays. So they played a good game today.”