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STATE BASEBALL NOTEBOOK | From Huntington Park
Mutual respect: Western Reserve made back-to-back trips to the state tournament after having never appeared in school history. Both runs were ended by Division IV state power Newark Catholic. “That program’s where we want to be,” Blue Devils coach Ed Anthony said. “It’s two years in a row for us and I talked to their coach at the very end. He goes ‘You got something special going on. Bring them back next year. Just keep coming, because this is fun.’”
Historic class: It was difficult for the Blue Devils’ players to reflect on a 23-win season immediately following the state-final loss. “I’m trying to stay positive because we made history for Western Reserve,” senior Evan Nesbitt said. “It’s been incredible. We’ve made so much history in the past four years, sports wise. It’s just been a great ride.” The team’s five seniors graduated from high school Sunday with three Inter Tri-County League titles, three district titles, back-to-back regional championships and its first state tournament win in school history.
Back for more: Four of the five seniors on this year’s state runner-up team were starters. Some of the notable players returning are sophomores Wyatt Larimer and Jeep Diciccio and juniors Jake Clark, Lance Dezee and Walker Marlowe. “Hopefully we set the bar,” senior John Clegg said. “Hopefully they break it. We have one more game. That’s all we have to do to win. Hopefully they get there next year, because we tried to set the standard as high as we could.”
Perfect in relief: Poland starter Adam Knight was pulled in the fifth inning of Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Defiance after allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits. He struck out six and walked two. He was replaced by junior Matt Baker who was perfect in his three innings of relief. The 6-foot-7 left-hander struck out two and walked one without allowing a hit to keep Poland within striking distance.
Top ‘dogs: Defiance won state titles in both boys basketball and baseball this school year. Baseball coach Tom Held called the basketball games on the radio and said he got a new perspective watching games that way instead of as a coach. “People need to understand how important sports are in a community. It brings communities together and does a lot of good things.”
Future outlook: Poland loses eight seniors to graduation for the second year in a row. Jared Burkert, Anthony Calcagni and Eric White are the only underclassmen who started the title game. “We’re going to use this as motivation for next year,” Burkert said. “Everyone who’s been here knows it hurts and going to show the kids coming up. We’re going to do our very best to get back here next year.”