Five Valley teams are still alive

May 25, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

Western Reserve

has tough decision

Western Reserve has been to regionals enough times that it has been able to try different combinations of deploying its top pitchers.

Coach Ed Anthony’s senior class has seen a state final, a state semifinal and a regional final. He has to choose whether or not to use ace right-hander Wyatt Larimer or lefty Dom Velasquez today against Dalton. It’s not an easy call.

“I’ve done both. In the past with our ‘No. 1’ pitcher, you put him out there because the old cliche is, ‘There is no tomorrow.’ There’s no second game without the first game,” Anthony said. “We’ve also gone with our No. 2 and saved our No. 1 for a regional championship. Both routes have worked for us in the past. They’re both solid pitchers and they do what they’re supposed to do out there.”

Anthony is not the only baseball team with questions to answer today. The Blue Devils (Division IV) are joined by Canfield (D-II), Crestview (D-III), Champion (D-III) and Warren JFK (D-IV) in regionals.

Anthony said he’s called around to learn what he can about Dalton and what he has learned hasn’t helped him decide. He did say Dalton ace Adam Manley could be a problem. The junior has thrown multiple one- and two-hitters this season.

However Anthony chooses to use his pitchers, Larimer said he’d be fine with it. He and Velasquez platooned at the quarterback position this past fall, so they are used to making way for one another.

“We’re really comfortable around each other. I sit by him in class,” Larimer said. “We’re good friends. It’s been easy going through sports with him.”

Run support for Velasquez or Larimer will decide how far the Blue Devils (21-3) go. Larimer bats .488 and Velasquez and Jeep DiCioccio each hit around .400, but Anthony wants more out of the lower end of the order.

“Our goal is to get the lower part of our order to make contact and move runners over and in the last few days, they’ve been doing a good job of that,” Anthony said. “You come to states, you have to put hits together and string together runs. That’s what it always comes down to.”

If Western Reserve can get past Dalton, it’ll play Warren JFK, provided the Eagles can beat New Riegel.

JFK is trying to help coach Don Lee go out as a state champion. Lee is retiring after 34 years of running the Eagles’ baseball program.

Canfield (17-7) will face Chargrin Falls with just two seniors in the roster, but has the legs and arms to make up for the lack of experience.

“We have some guys that can run a little bit and with some good pitching, anything can happen,” Canfield coach Matt Koenig said.

The top arms for Canfield are juniors Jack Rafoth with a 1.19 ERA and Anthony Longo with a 1.30 ERA.

In Division III, Champion and Crestview could face each other for a regional title, but first, they have to get Lutheran West and Doylestown Chippewa, respectively.

Champion (24-3) is ranked No. 2 in the state for D-III in the most recent coaches poll. They share the honor with Warren JFK of being the first district champion from Trumbull County since 2009. The Golden Flashes are led by Kent State commit Michael Turner at catcher.

Crestview (15-12) doesn’t have the gaudy record or current Ohio State pitcher Michael McDonough, yet the Rebels are going to Massillon. Crestview has quality on the roster, but not depth.

“We have pitchers who can throw a two-game set, but any time we had those games run together over a week, we’d run out of experienced pitching and that’s why you see our record as it was,” Crestview coach Dan Hill said. “I don’t want to take anything away from our opponents — we played good teams — but our pitching depth got exposed.”

Hill has a good righty and a lefty to turn to today. Senior lefty Dylan Dickey is 7-1 on the season with a 2.66 ERA and sophomore righty Tyler Hurd is 4-2 with a 1.97 ERA. Sophomore Devin Turvey is the Rebels’ top hitter, averaging .424 on the season with three home runs, seven doubles and 35 RBIs.

The Rebels face a 19-6 Chippewa side that has already taken out state runnerup Waynedale. The Chipps boast the Wayne County Athletic League MVP in Trent Harrell. He has six home runs and 38 RBIs and is 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA on the mound.