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Clegg, Larimer power Devils into state final
COLUMBUS
John Clegg finally got his senior moment.
Now he and the Western Reserve baseball team will have an opportunity to make a championship moment.
Clegg hit a two-run triple, threw a runner out at home and slammed the door on Hicksville to send the Blue Devils to the first state final in school history.
“That’s what we all dream about, isn’t it?” Clegg asked with a smile after Western Reserve’s 5-2 win in a Division IV state semifinal Thursday night at Huntington Park in Columbus.
The Blue Devils (23-5) also got another shutdown performance from sophomore pitcher Wyatt Larimer (8-0) in the biggest game of his young career. He struck out 10 in five innings to stay unbeaten.
“It was a strong team effort and I love that about my team,” Larimer said. “I know that I can count on them at any time, any moment. Someone’s going to come through.
“Today it just happened to be everybody.”
Western Reserve will make its first title final appearance on Saturday against perennial power Newark Catholic (21-11). The Green Wave have seven state championships and are making their third consecutive appearance in the title game.
“They’re good,” Clegg said. “It hurt when we lost to them last year, so we get a little revenge.
“They’re an awesome team and they did a great job in the semifinal today. I just can’t wait to play them.”
Thursday’s semifinal was a pitchers’ duel through the first three innings. Clegg got the Blue Devils on the board first with a two-run triple to the gap in right-center field. Evan Nesbitt drove in Clegg to make it 3-0.
“He’s had hits like that all year, but I just want timely hitting,” Blue Devils coach Ed Anthony said of Clegg.
“That’s all we needed from this group. We knew if we could put the ball in play that our pitching would be there.”
After two first-inning singles, the Aces (19-12) didn’t have another hit off Larimer until the bottom of the fifth. Larimer got into a jam in the fourth by walking the first batter on four pitches and throwing two consecutive balls to the next hitter.
But after Anthony visited the mound, Larimer locked in and struck out the side.
“Wyatt’s phenomenal,” Clegg said. “He’s the man. He’s not like many kids and he deserves so much of the credit.”
Walker Marlowe pitched the sixth. Clegg threw out a runner at home plate for the second out of the inning and with the shutout still intact, Marlowe thew the ball away trying to get the third out at first base. Two runs scored, but both were unearned.
Clegg worked the seventh and earned a save.
Anthony said his defense played well until that point, but that was the only weak spot in an otherwise commanding performance.
The Blue Devils are going to need much of the same if they hope to take down Newark Catholic.
“We’re not going to bow down to them or anyone else,” Anthony said. “We go out and play our game. Whether it’s Newark or Hicksville, we respect them all, but fear none.”
Pitching probable
Anthony said after the game that his plan is to start Clegg, a senior, on Saturday. He pulled Larimer after just 88 pitches and with a five-run lead in the semifinal, so the sophomore is available to pitch in relief in the state final.
Familiar foe
Newark Catholic advanced to the title game with a 4-0 win over Fort Recovery in the other semifinal Thursday. The Green Wave (21-11) defeated Western Reserve last year in a state semifinal before losing in the championship game.
State history
Mahoning County has been represented in the Division IV state tournament in six of the last seven years: Western Reserve (2014, ’15), Springfield (2009, ’11, ’13) and Columbiana (2010). The last area baseball team to win a state title was Canfield in 2007, when it beat Springfield Kenton Ridge in Division II.