Clippers advance to face rival Rebels

May 10, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBIANA

Already on a roll, the Campbell Memorial High School baseball team couldn’t have produced a better start in Monday’s tournament opener against Columbiana.

Winners of eight of their previous 11 games, the Red Devils pounced on the Clippers when their first two batters scored.

But Columbiana pitcher Jake Clark responded well to the challenge, not allowing another run. The Clippers scored five times in their third inning for a 5-2 victory in the Division III tournament opener at Firestone Park.

“They just jumped on my fastball,” said Clark (5-3), who adjusted by throwing more curveballs. “[The umpire] was giving me the outside corner. so I started throwing there.”

Yianni Koullias opened the game with a double. He scored on Michael Jones’ single. Jones then scored after Darion Jones’ infield hit and a bobbled ball for a 2-0 lead.

“Their top of the order came out swinging,” Columbiana coach Ryan Wolf said. “[Koullias] crushed the ball into the gap and [Jones] hit a nice line drive.

“But our pitcher really buckled down after that,” Wolf said. “He kept the ball down — it could have been worse.

Campbell pitcher Laz Lebron (1-2) retired the first six Clippers. But in their third at-bat, Columbiana (14-8) took advantage of two Campbell errors to produce five runs.

“A couple of things that we didn’t execute — that’s what happens in high school baseball,” Campbell coach Brian Nichols said. “They put the ball in play, we didn’t.”

Tim Davin ignited the Clippers with a lead-off double. After Clark singled, Seth Ross was hit by a pitch to load the bases. An infield error allowed Vince Vivo to reach and score Davin.

Mitch Davidson singled sharply to center field, where a bobbled pickup allowed Ross to follow Clark to the plate for a 3-2 lead. A wild pitch brought Vivo home and Davidson came in on a groundout.

Wolf said the wild pitch came on what was supposed to be a squeeze play but Vivo missed the sign.

“The ball went to the backstop, so he scored anyway,” Wolf said, agreeing that the breaks went the Clippers’ way in that at-bat.

In the final six innings, Clark allowed just three baserunners on two walks and Lebron’s sixth-inning single. His four-hitter featured 10 strikeouts.

“He did a nice job of regrouping,” Wolf said. “And we played good defense behind him.”

Nichols said the Red Devils (8-13) took their lumps early in the season as younger players gained experience.

“I am extremely proud of them,” Nichols said. “They could have just mailed it in, but they came to practice every day with a positive attitude. They wanted to get better.”

Campbell will lose three seniors to graduation: Michael Jones (pitcher/third baseman), Jacob Mistovich (first baseman) and Chris Austalosh (outfielder).

The Clippers advance to play second seed Crestview (16-5) and Ohio State University recruit Michael McDonough in today’s sectional final. Last week, Crestview defeated Columbiana 3-0 with McDonough and Clark pitching. Davidson will be on the mound in the rematch.