Dunham’s 14 Ks, South Range’s two-out runs cripple Clippers

May 16, 2015 at 12:10a.m.

BEAVER TOWNSHIP

South Range pitcher Greg Dunham will have a tired right arm in the morning.

But that won’t provide nearly the exhaustion as the nightmares Columbiana coach Ryan Wolf can expect courtesy of two-out runs.

Dunham’s 14-strikeout, 112-pitch complete game was accompanied by seven two-out runs from Raider bats. That combination proved to be too much for the Clippers, sending South Range into the Division III district tournament with a 8-1 victory on Friday.

“I had so much adrenaline,” Dunham said after his outing. “I just don’t know any other way to pitch. [My arm] feels good now, but I’m sure I’ll feel it in the morning.

“I’ll just ice it tonight and be back tomorrow.”

For most of the evening, Columbiana did everything it could to make life difficult for the Raiders’ ace. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the South Range bats came alive.

After recording two outs in the bottom of the fifth with the game still scoreless, Columbiana pitcher Mitch Davidson hit the Raiders’ No. 8 hitter, Travis Baxter. He advanced to second base on a pitch to the backstop.

That set up Brandon Youngs, who drove in the game’s first run with a blooper to shallow left field on a two-strike pitch.

“The lower half of the batting order did a phenomenal job for us today,” said Raiders coach Jim Hanek. “They were able to roll us around to the top and get us going, so I’m very pleased with their effort today.”

They weren’t finished, either. After Dunham stranded Clippers base runners on first and third with only one out, South Range started the merry-go-round in the bottom half of the sixth.

Jack Bajerski led off with a inside-the-park home run that was aided by a poorly judged route to the ball by the Clippers’ left fielder, allowing it to drop over his head and roll to the fence.

But Davidson was able to retire the next two batters before losing control.

Ryan Miller doubled, Ethan Dominguez was intentionally walked and Dylan Keller singled to load the bases. Brycen James delivered a two-RBI single to make it 4-0 Raiders. Baxter then drove in Keller with a base hit.

All four hits recorded in the inning to that point came on the first pitch of the at-bat, crippling Davidson, who had pitched well to that point.

“It was so quick we couldn’t even get anybody else up [in the bullpen],” Wolf said. “And I think Davidson was a little rattled at that point.

“This game sometimes — you can get two outs real easy and then six runs later you’re done.”

Youngs capped the big inning with a three-run inside-the-park home run, giving the freshman four RBIs.

“We’re not just in the back of the lineup because we can’t hit the ball,” Youngs said. “We take a lot of pride in producing for the team.”

Dunham gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh, but eventually shut the door on Columbiana’s season.

“I wasn’t too concerned, because I have a great defense behind me and they’re always working,” Dunham said. “I knew our bats would come on late, because they always do.”

South Range advances to play East Palestine in a district semifinal at Cene Park on Thursday. The Bulldogs beat Springfield, 4-2, on Friday.