JEROMESVILLE — A pair of juniors put on a show during Senior Night at Hillsdale on Thursday night.
Pitcher Gavin Casdorph surrendered just two hits over five innings and Braylen Jarvis belted a two-run home run among his three hits as the Falcons knocked off Plymouth 10-0 in five innings.
Hillsdale’s eight seniors were recognized during a pregame ceremony and all eight were in the starting lineup. Seven of them had at least one hit as the Falcons (12-4) banged out 15 hits.
“It was a good day for our seniors. They all started and they all contributed,” Hillsdale coach Jason Snow said. “We’ve had a rough week, so it was good to get out here and hit the ball hard and get a win.”
Ranked sixth in Division IV in the most recent Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association state poll, Hillsdale dropped a pair of Wayne County Athletic League games to Dalton earlier in the week.
The Falcons are fourth in the top-heavy WCAL at 7-2. Norwayne leads the league at 9-1, a game ahead of Dalton and defending Division III state champ Waynedale (8-2).
“We’re still in the mix, but it’s going to be difficult,” Snow said. “We’ve still got (home-and-homes series against) Norwayne and Waynedale and we’ll probably have to win three of four or win out. We’re capable of doing that, but it’s not going to be easy.”
If the Falcons hit the ball the way they did against the Big Red (4-8), anything is possible. Five of Hillsdale’s hits went for extra bases.
Jarvis did the most damage, finishing a triple shy of the cycle. The left fielder singled and scored in the first, doubled in the fourth and launched a no-doubter over the wall in left in the seventh. Ashland University-bound Daniel Painter, Max Vesper and Jake Hoverstock all doubled. Hoverstock and Vesper each knocked in two runs, while Jarvis plated three.
Hillsdale scored single runs in the first and second before blowing it open in the fourth. The Falcons sent nine men to the plate and scored five runs.
“We kind of got off to a slow start,” Snow said. “We had our leadoff batter on in the first three innings and only scored two runs. Then we kind of broke it open in the fourth.”
A right-hander, Casdorph was remarkably efficient in his second start of the season. He needed just 67 pitches to pick up the run rule-shortened complete game victory, striking out three and walking one.
“He threw for us during our trip to Myrtle Beach and he kept us in the game against a good team,” Snow said. “Then he came out today and throws a shutout. It was good for him and it was good for the team because we were able to save some other pitchers.”
Carson Tucker and Jarrett Burrer each had a hit for the Big Red. Burrer took the loss, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits in three innings of work.
“That is the kind of competition we are looking for as we get toward the end of our season,” said first-year Plymouth skipper Jarrod Furr, who took over for Jake Strayer. “Right now our bats are struggling. We had plenty of opportunities to get runners across but we have failed in the last three or four games to come up with that timely hit.”
Hillsdale and Plymouth are among north central Ohio’s most tradition-rich small-school programs. Hillsdale was the Division IV state runner-up in 2019 and reached the regional championship game last spring. Plymouth was a Division IV regional finalist in 2018 and returned to the Sweet 16 last year.
“We’ve struggled with our consistency, but there is still time to get it turned around,” Furr said. “We’ve got 12 games in the next two-and-a-half weeks.
“We’ve got seven seniors and we’re going to lean on them.”
