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Dunham, Raiders shut out Bulldogs
South Range returns
to Division III
district title game
By Joe Scalzo
STRUTHERS
South Range junior Greg Dunham had two balls hit hard off him in Thursday’s Division III district semifinal.
Only one of them came off an East Palestine bat.
Dunham pitched a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts and survived a hit by pitch off his helmet in the fifth inning, helping the Raiders advance to the championship game with a 4-0 win over East Palestine (15-10) at Cene Park.
“That’s the type of outing we expect from him when he takes the mound and he expects that from himself,” South Range coach Jim Hanek said. “He did a fantastic job for us today.”
Dunham (7-2) retired the first 11 batters before Blaze Chamberlain hammered a triple to right field in the fourth inning. Dunham struck out the next batter and gave up just one baserunner the rest of the way, (unintentionally) hitting Jaret Spratt to open the top of the sixth.
“My performance always depends on my fielders and catcher,” said Dunham, who also pitched the Raiders into the district final last season. “They always make the plays for me. I wouldn’t do anything like that [performance] without them.”
Ethan Dominguez went 3-for-3 with three stolen bases and two runs for the Raiders (18-10), who will play Ursuline in the district final at 3 p.m. today at Field One. Brycen James added two hits, a run and a RBI and Travis Baxter had two singles.
South Range has lost the last two district finals to the Irish — by a combined 23-3 margin — and fell 5-0 to Ursuline in a regular season game on May 2.
“They’re good,” Hanek said of the Irish. “Top to bottom, they’ve got a fantastic program. It’s a tribute to their kids and their coaches. They’ve got a great coaching staff. They’re always here [in the district tournament]. It’s almost gotten routine for them.
“We’re capable [of winning] but we have to play sound baseball, make the routine play and not make mistakes.”
Senior Tyler Baird will get the start for South Range against Ursuline, which has won four straight district titles.
“I think we can get them,” Dunham said. “It’ll be a great game. Tyler will be pitching, so we’ll be good. As a pitcher, it’s just about hitting your spots, getting ground ball outs and playing together.”