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Eyes on the prize
BERLIN CENTER
In a sport rooted in failure, the Western Reserve High School baseball team continues to find success.
The Blue Devils will return to the Division IV state tournament in Columbus on Thursday for the second year in a row. It’s a significant achievement, considering the school had never advanced past the regional round prior to last season.
If there’s any truth to the notion that a team must first experience failure before it can find success, the Blue Devils (22-5) feel like they’ve paid their dues.
“They know now what it takes,” Western Reserve coach Ed Anthony said. “They know the teams are darn good down there and they know they have to stay focused.
“We’re not there to just show up. We’re there to win it.”
Last year, Anthony tried to keep his players loose and told them to have fun on the big stage. They proceeded to throw the ball all over Huntington Park in the first inning of their semifinal game, which they lost to Newark Catholic, 6-2.
This year, new game plan.
“We’re going to have more of a mindset that we’re here to win,” senior outfielder Evan Nesbitt said. “We belong here and we wanted this to happen this year.”
They may have wanted to get back to the state final four, but Anthony will be the first to admit a lot of different things had to fall into place for them to return.
For starters, senior pitcher John Clegg took on more of a leadership role, while sophomore pitcher Wyatt Larimer turned into the Blue Devils’ go-to arm. Senior catcher Zach Smith might be Anthony’s favorite story, transitioning from a full-time backup to a full-time starter.
“Well, we’re realistic and we put goals up on our board each year and we like to achieve them,” Anthony said. “You’d like to turn around and say yeah, we expected it.
“We were certainly hoping for it. I think as a coaching staff, we knew we were going to be a solid team. To actually be in this position, we’re blessed.”
While Anthony was more cautiously optimistic about this season’s possibilities, Clegg was more matter-of-fact. Also the quarterback on the Blue Devils’ football team, the senior knows how powerful belief can be.
“I absolutely knew we could get back here,” Clegg said. “We have great players here and we have all along. We have great coaches that get the job done. They know what to do and have been around forever it seems like.
“It really seems like it was meant to be.”
For all the inexperience the Blue Devils went into last year’s state tournament with, it’ll be their opponent on Thursday that has to carry that same burden.
Hicksville High School is making its first state appearance since 1982. The Aces (19-10) are led by freshman pitcher Jake Greer, who pitched a complete-game, five-hitter in their regional final victory.
“We’re going to try and get on them by doing more talking in the dugout,” Smith said. “We’re a very vocal team and if we start talking a lot and getting to them a little bit, they might fold.”
This year’s Western Reserve senior class will graduate on Sunday, one day after they hope to win the school’s first state championship in baseball. They will have accumulated three Inter Tri-County League titles, three district titles and back-to-back regional championships with state tournament berths.
“It would be much more fun to win a state championship than to walk for graduation,” Clegg joked.
Smith added, “The best way to go out would be to win a state championship and then graduate the next day.”