Poland won’t be awed by state venue

May 31, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

Huntington Park in Columbus is a spectacular place to watch a baseball game. Located a couple of blocks behind Nationwide Arena in the state capital’s business district, the home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers has a big-city feel thanks to the view of the downtown skyline behind the outfield wall.

The Poland High School baseball team hopes a second straight year at Huntington Park will produce a comfort zone.

“It was something different,” third baseman Dan Klase said of last year’s Division II state games at Huntington Park. “The whole thing was just a new scene.

“It felt weird but it felt good.”

Last year, Poland defeated Columbus Watterston, 2-0, in the state semifinal game. A day later, the Bulldogs lost to Defiance, 5-3.

“We’ve seen it all,” Poland head coach Rich Murray said. “We’ve played two games down there — we won’t be afraid of it.”

Right fielder Matt Baker, a veteran of four regional tournaments (two basketball, two baseball), said he “was shocked” when he first arrived at the ballpark.

“Just being there was phenomenal,” said Baker, noting it had been 29 years in between Poland’s two state appearances. “To go there again [so soon], it’s going to be a great feeling.”

Returning so quickly, will the awe factor be negated?

“I think so,” Baker said.

First baseman Pad O’Shaughnessy, who powered the Bulldogs in last Friday’s 13-3 win over Chagrin Falls in the regional final, also was asked about whether the awe factor would be reduced.

“Nah,” O’Shaughnessy said. “That field is beautiful. It’s never going to get old playing [there].”

Against Chagrin Falls, O’Shaughnessy had four hits: a triple, two doubles and a single. The final score was deceptive as the Bulldogs (28-3) scored eight times in the final two innings.

“Coming back here, it almost felt like we were at home,” said O’Shaughnessy of Poland’s regional sweep at the Ballpark at Hudson. “No one was nervous.”

Well, almost no one. Don Drummond was summoned in the first inning to replace starter Mike Maillis who struggled to find the plate. The junior relief pitcher admitted going to the mound with bases loaded in a tie game was not calming.

Drummond retired Jared Barger to end the first-inning threat, then allowed just one unearned run over the next four innings.

“Drummond did phenomenal coming in after Michael struggled a little bit,” Baker said. “He was able to battle back and really find the strike zone.

“That’s all we really needed. We knew we have a great defense behind him.”

Second baseman Eric White said Drummond “dominated. That’s huge for him to come in like that. I give him a lot of credit — that’s hard to do.”

White thinks the Bulldogs won’t be wowed by the view.

“I think it will take an inning to set in, then we’ll take it [like a] normal [game],” White said. “The background with the city is amazing. I couldn’t believe we were playing there. But after the second inning, [it felt] like a normal game.”

Just like the NBA team north and west of the Mahoning Valley, the Bulldogs are motivated for a better ending.

“It feels great,” Baker said of the final week of his varsity career. “Last year’s team, it was kind of a surprise getting there.

“This year, we were determined to get back. We knew we had some unfinished business in Columbus.”

His coach agrees.

“That’s what our t-shirts say: Unfinished Business,” Murray said. “Hopefully we’ll go down there and win a couple.

Thursday at 1 p.m., Poland will play Hamilton Badin. The winner will advance to Saturday morning’s title game against Defiance (27-2) or Steubenville (25-2).

Klase and Baker said the Bulldogs are prepared for a tough challenge after finishing state runner-up.

“Everyone tries to play their best against Poland,” Baker said. “We’re [often] the toughest team on their schedule.”

Klase said the season “was real hard. Every team we faced, they’d always throw their ace against us because they knew it was going to be a big game.”