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Larimer guides Western Reserve past Jackson-Milton for district title
By Brian Dzenis
Struthers
What makes Western Reserve so good at baseball?
The Blue Devils won their third consecutive Division IV District title with a 3-2 win against Jackson-Milton, a tough district in the eyes of coach Ed Anthony.
“I don’t think anything sets us apart, things fell into certain places for us,” Anthony said. “You need fundamentally sound defense, you need pitching, timely hitting and you need the good lord’s help and I think we’ve had that for the past few years.”
The pitching and timely hitting part of the equation came from junior Wyatt Larimer Wednesday. After a shaky first inning where he allowed the Blue Jays to load the bases and score two runs, he pitched six innings of no-hit baseball.
“I didn’t realize I didn’t give up a hit [after the first],” Larimer said. “I just settled down and knew our bats were going to get going. I knew I could count on my teammates to hit the ball, score and give me some comfort on the mound.”
Jackson-Milton’s runs came off and RBI-single from John Volland and with the bases loaded, Western Reserve catcher Ryan Slaven was called for interference. In the rulebook, catcher’s interference with the bases loaded does not count as an error, but is an RBI for the batter, which in this case was the Bluejays’ Zak Lane. After that, it was a hitting drought for the No. 9-ranked Div. IV team in the state.
“We just didn’t hit the ball. There wasn’t much we could do,” Jackson-Milton coach Kevin Hogue said. “The kids tried their hardest and that’s all you can ask for.”
The Blue Devils’ Jeep DiCiccio singled home Larimer in the bottom of the third inning. Jake Clark later scored from third off a passed ball.
There were two more bizarro moments for catchers in the fourth inning. Larimer faced a jam after an error, a hit batter and another catcher’s interference call loaded the bases with one out.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a catcher interference this year or in my high school career,” Larimer said. “For it to happen two times in one game was weird.”
He got out of the snafu by coaxing a double play. Lane, Jackson-Milton’s catcher, was ejected in the bottom of the fourth. He tried to make a diving grab for a foul ball and while it was a close attempt, he didn’t get it. As he laid on the ground with the ball, he appeared to say something to the umpire and was immediately tossed. Hogue declined to comment on the ejection.
In the next at bat, Slaven stole second base and advanced to third on a botched throw to second. Larimer knocked his own catcher home to complete the night 3-for-3 with a run scored and the game winning RBI. On the mound, he got the win by giving up two runs on three hits, four walks and two struck batters while striking out six.
In regionals, Western Reserve will face the winner of Sycamore Mohawk and Tiffin Calvert, who play on Saturday. The Blue Devils meet that winner on May 26 at the Lorain Pipe Yard.
“Our main goal is to get back to where we left off last year and to reach that would be incredible, Larimer said. “This district championship is just the start of that. I can’t wait for what lies ahead.”