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Underdog Dalton upsets West Reserve
By Marty Gitlin
LORAIN
The Cinderella glass slipper remains firmly in place for the Dalton baseball team. That is because carriage-riding Western Reserve has transformed into a pumpkin.
The unexpected turn of events occurred Friday afternoon at Pipe Yard Stadium. That was when the Bulldogs blanked the Blue Devils, 4-0, in a Division IV regional semifinal. The winner will meet New Riegel for a state berth Saturday at 5 p.m.
Dalton vs. Lisbon Basketball
Gallery
The girls basketball teams from Dalton and Lisbon faced off on Thursday March 8, 2018. Photos are by Bob Ettinger.
New Riegel shut out Warren JFK 2-0 in Friday’s other semifinal.
Western Reserve seemed destined for a shot at its third trip to Columbus in five years. After all, senior starting pitcher Wyatt Larimer arrived on the mound with a 26-1 career record and microscopic 0.47 earned run average this season. But poor defense and a hiccup in the third inning doomed his team to defeat.
The struggles with the gloves actually began in the first. A bobble and bad throw by third baseman Jeep DiCioccio allowed the Bulldogs to claw ahead, 1-0. That run would be all they needed.
But they got three more in the third, courtesy of the aforementioned hiccup and a huge error. Larimer loaded the bases with one out on two singles sandwiched around a walk. Then a throwing miscue on an attempted force at second by shortstop Ryan Demsky allowed two runs to score. A groundout stretched the Dalton lead to 4-0.
The toss by Demsky was not far off the target. It was off just enough to prevent a catch.
“When you get to this level and you make mistakes like that, it can cost you,” said Blue Devils coach Ed Anthony. “That one cost us two runs.”
A four-run deficit seemed like Mount Everest the way Dalton southpaw Adam Manley was throwing. Manley allowed seven hits and a walk, but executed the pitches he needed to with runners in scoring position. He induced Ryan Slaven to ground out with two on the second inning and got Garrett Mihalick to pop out with two runners on base in the sixth. He also picked off a pair of Western Reserve baserunners, including one to end the game.
“You have to get timely hitting,” Anthony said. “We had guys on base in situations with guys up, but we couldn’t get the timely hit. That’s baseball.”
And after the last pitch had been thrown, Anthony preferred to speak not of the defeat, but of the senior class that he had coached proudly for four years.
“I’m really proud of this class,” he said. “I’m really going to miss them. They helped continue to put Western Reserve baseball on the map. Some days are just not your days and this was one of them. Hats off to Dalton.”
It will be the last memory for Larimer as a Blue Devils baseball player. He will try to create new memories at Kent State, where he will attempt to earn a spot as a walk-on. But those memories of Western Reserve will be fond ones.
“It’s been a great ride,” he said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to pitch anywhere else for four years. For it to be over — I don’t have any words for that right now.”