May 22, 1999
Calvert wins district title in baseball
By Andy Cole
Sports Writer
NORTH ROBINSON -- Somewhere in the thriving metropolis of Kidron, Ohio early next week, some coach may glance across the boxscore of the Calvert-Colonel Crawford district championship game and wonder what in the world the seven, eight and nine guys in Calvert's order are doing going 6-for-8.
The last person it surprises is Calvert's coach.
"The fact that our bottom three hitters hit that well doesn't surprise me at all," said Rick Demith after his team beat Colonel Crawford, 10-4, to earn its second straight trip to the regionals. Calvert (14-9) takes on Kidron Central Christian at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Elyria's Ely Stadium. The Crusaders topped Independence in Strongsville, 9-6 in eight innings.
Hitting in the last three spots in the order, Scott Frank was 3-for-3 with a double, a run and two RBI, Tim Brodman had a hit with two runs, and Eric Puffenberger was 2-for-2 with two home runs and four RBI.
"Puff and Brody have been .400 hitters all season long, and anybody who has played us knows that the bottom of our order is the heart of our order," said Demith, whose team will play on graduation day despite losing much of the pitching staff from last year's regional club.
"I knew we'd be back here because of the quality of athletes that we had coming back. We didn't rebuild, we really did reload. We've got guys like (Tim) Schumm, Eric Lee, Dustyn Risner and Bart Fisher who were on that team last year and now won't be so nervous when we play in the regionals this time. In spots where we did lose somebody to graduation, we had quality replacements like Joe Harvey and (Jon) Raitz."
Calvert pitcher Dustyn Risner (6-1) walked three and hit a batter in the first three innings, but the Eagles didn't get on the board until the third inning. Scott Bishop singled, moved to second on a ground ball and to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Tyson Pinion's single to give Colonel Crawford (16-13) a 1-0 lead.
The Senecas would do more than support their pitcher. Calvert put together a seven-run third inning that put the game away early. Frank started it with a double, and Brodman singled with two strikes on him. Puffenberger's fly-ball scored Frank, and Eric Lee doubled to right field to bring Brodman around.
Risner singled, and Colonel Crawford committed two errors on a Joe Harvey grounder to score two more runs. Harvey would then score on a wild pitch. Frank finished the rally with a base hit that scored Bart Fisher and Jon Raitz.
The first of Puffenberger's shots came in the bottom of the fourth, pushing the Calvert lead to 8-1. Risner got into some trouble in the fifth when Mike Brause (single), Dustin Alspach (single) and Bishop (double) opened the inning with hits. One out later, Pinion hit a two-run single to close the gap to 8-4. The next batter grounded to Brodman, who set an inning-ending double play in motion.
Puffenberger closed the scoring with his second home run, a two-run blast with one out in the sixth. Puffenberger now has three home runs in his last four at-bats.
Risner took care of the rest, allowing a walk and a hit to start the seventh but getting out of it by retiring three of the next four batters. Colonel Crawford's Jesse Lacey had the bases loaded for him with two outs, but flew out to Tim Schumm in left field to seal Calvert's second straight regional trip.
"I knew the strike zone would be tighter today than in our last tournament game," said Risner, who struck out 13 in Calvert's 13-6 win over Sandusky St. Mary's in the district semifinals at Plymouth. "Us getting back here all depended on guys coming around during the regular season. I don't think we'll be as nervous this time. If the guys that have been there can step up and lead us, we'll be all right."
Risner gave up four runs on eight hits, striking out one and walking five. Swerlein took the loss, getting hit for five runs on four hits in two and one-thirds innings. Lacey went three innings, surrendering five runs on six hits, and Bishop finished up for the Eagles.
"I didn't doubt the we could get back here and we could do this again because of what our guys went through in the regular season," Demith said. "We play in a great league. We had four teams in the district finals, and Seneca East, St. Wendelin, Mohawk and New Riegel can play with anybody in the state. You can't be better prepared for a game like this than we were by our schedule.
"We had a joint practice with Seneca East on Wednesday, and we got a lot of things done. We worked on some things we needed to work on, and they did the same, and I guess it worked because we both won. I got called today from there and they wished us good luck.
"I expect us having been there before to be a huge asset. When we went to the regionals last year, we were nervous and we didn't get done the things we needed to get done. Now we're getting a chance to go there again."