CORRY - Warren clinched a tie for the Region 8 championship with a 9-0 shutout of Corry on Wednesday at The Ballpark At Columbus.
The Dragons are 14-2 overall and finish 8-2 in the region, splitting their championship with General McLane (also 8-2 in the region).
"That was the last region game," said Warren coach Jeff Passaro. "We have one more game on Friday and then it's the playoffs."
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Mitchell Wilston
Last game, big game
Youngsville pitcher Cory Craig winds up a pitch as Eisenhower's Shane Arford races to third. Craig finished the five-inning win with 11 strikeouts on the mound as well as five RBI and a double at the plate. See B-4.
Kevin VanOrd singled home Andrew Bevevino in the first to start tings off. The Dragons erupted in the second inning with seven runs, led by a two-RBI double by Ed Dorunda and a pair of two-run singles by Bevevino and Matt Jaskolka.
"We had some clutch RBI's in the second," said Passaro, "right when we needed them."
The Dragons' huge second-inning forced Corry to send in an early reliever, who stopped the bleeding, at least for a while.
"They brought out a reliever for the third inning to shut us down a little bit, but we had some more later in the game," said Passaro.
While Corry's bullpen struggled, Jaskolka threw another outstanding game.
"Last time he was out there he threw a no-hitter (against Harbor Creek), and he really threw well today," said Passaro.
Jaskolka allowed three hits and a walk over seven shutout innings, while tallying 10 strikeouts.
"He was in the zone today," said Passaro.
Warren would score another run in the seventh inning to wrap up the ballgame, 9-0.
With only one non-region game against Titusville left to play on Friday, the Dragons have begun to shift their focus to the playoffs.
"The first season is over after Friday's game and then we start the second season-the playoffs," said Passaro. "They expected a good year, they expected to make it to the playoffs."
The confidence is matched by a wary understanding of what the playoffs really mean.
"You can't afford to make mistakes in the playoffs," he said. "We have the one more tune-up game on Friday and then we have to be running on all cylinders."
WARREN(9): ab-r-h-rbi. Thomas, ss, 3-1-1-1, McIntosh, ph, 1-0-1-0, Bevevino, c, 2-1-2-2, Ord, ph, 1-0-0-0, Morrison, 3b, 5-1-0-0, VanOrd, dh, 3-1-1-1, Fantaskey, rf, 0-0-0-0, Jaskolka, p, 3-1-1-2, Daley, ph, 1-0-0-0, Dorunda, 2b, 4-1-2-2, McMeans, 1b, 1-1-0-0, Walters, ph, 1-0-0-0, Maeder, lf, 4-1-1-0, Danielson, cf, 3-1-2-0, Cerra, ph, 1-0-0-0, Totals: 33-9-11-8.
CORRY(0): ab-r-h-rbi. Wood, ss, 3-0-1-0, Patton, cf, 3-0-0-0, Silvis, c, 3-0-0-0, Engle, p-lf, 3-0-0-0, Berkhaus, 3b, 3-0-2-0, Sonntag, dh-p, 3-0-0-0, Silvis, lf, 0-0-0-0, Shotene, 1b, 2-0-0-0, Brown, 2b, 2-0-0-0, Northrup, rf, 2-0-0-0. Totals: 24-0-3-0.
Warren 170 000 1 - 9 11 0
Corry 000 000 0 - 0 3 2
2b- Dorunda (W), Berkhaus (C). WP-Jaskolka. LP-Engle.
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Youngsville 12, Eisenhower 2
After being 10-runned by Eisenhower earlier in the year, it was Youngsville's turn to send Ike home early, blocking the Knights shot at the co-region championship with a five-inning win, 12-2, on Wednesday at Davis Street Field in Youngsville.
"We're paying them back," said Youngsville coach Tom Craig. "They 10-runned us on their field - it was our turn."
Eisenhower didn't have an answer for Youngsville's ace Cory Craig, who racked up 11 strikeouts in the five-inning win.
"With Cory pitching, I was confident," said coach Craig. "He really wanted this, his last game. You can't ask for a better way to end your senior year, going against your rival."
Eisenhower coach Jon Vincent acknowledged Craig's big day on the mound.
"Cory is by far the best pitcher around here," said Vincent. "I've seen him pitch a couple times this year and this was as hard as I've seen him throw."
"We came down here with no heart and we weren't ready to play," added Vincent. "You could see it when we got here, Youngsville was ready to play. From the first pitch on, I knew we were in trouble."
Cory Craig got the Eagles started early, hitting in two with a double in the first inning. With two more runs in the second, it was 4-0 before the Knights could get their first run of the game in the fourth inning, when Aaron Lundmark scored off a double by Kyle Hunt.
The Eagles were just getting started. A four-run fourth inning, followed by a four-run fifth, were enough to put the Eagles ahead by 10 and end the game early, 12-2.
"We all played well," said coach Craig. "We hit well and we fielded-well, we didn't need to field very much."
Going into this game, the Eagles had a slightly different game plan to get runners on base.
"We were going to bunt a little bit," said Craig, and the bunts proved to be a hole in the Knight's armor.
"They had bunts in the infield that we couldn't field and those mistakes snowballed on us," said Vincent.
If having a big day on the mound wasn't enough for Craig in his senior send off, five RBI and a double made him an easy choice for player of the game.
While the Eagles season ended with the win at 3-16 overall, the Knights may continue into the postseason with a game on Monday as an at-large Class A berth. Eisenhower is 7-9 overall and finishes 4-2 and in second place in Region 5. Mercyhurst Prep won the region at 5-1.
EISENHOWER(2):ab-r-h-rbi: Eric Hastings, 2b, 3-0-0-0, Aaron Lundmark, c, 1-1-0-0, Kyle Hunt, ss-p, 2-0-1-1, Joe Rutsky, 1b, 2-0-0-0, Ryan Williams, p-3b, 1-0-0-0, Trevor Spicer, 3b-ss, 2-0-0-0, Shane Arford, lf, 2-1-1-0, Jeb Fedorchuk, cf, 2-0-0-1, Brice Garris, 2-0-0-0. Totals: 17-2-2-2.
YOUNGSVILLE(12):ab-r-h-rbi: Jake Marino, cf, 3-3-1-0, Dan McLaughlin, rf, 3-2-2-0, Caleb Linkerhof, lf, 2-2-1-3, Cory Craig, p, 3-2-3-5, Broc Horn, c, 4-0-0-0, Sawyer Dininny, 1b, 4-0-1-1, Josh Lewis, ss, 2-0-0-0, Jake Linkerhof, 2b, 0-0-0-0, Brodie Turner, dh, 3-0-0-0, Thomas Henry, 3b, 2-3-2-0. Totals: 26-12-10-9.
Eisenhower 000 11 - 2 2 1
Youngsville 220 44 - 12 10 0
2b- Cory Craig (Y), Shane Arford (E), Kyle Hunt (E). WP-Craig. LP-Williams.