ONTARIO — They haven’t pitched the ball especially well this spring and defense has been an adventure at times, but these Whippets can hit.
Shelby banged out 13 base hits and parlayed a five-run fifth inning into a 10-7 Northern Ohio League victory over Ontario on a mild — albeit blustery — Thursday afternoon at Ontario High School.
The Whippets (4-3, 1-0) stuck to their early-season script against the Warriors (3-2, 1-1). Shelby managed to overcome shaky pitching and four errors with its surprisingly potent lineup.
“We graduated nine seniors and we lost all of our pitching off last year’s team,” Shelby coach C.J. Brickman said. “Our top three pitchers are two sophomores and a freshman and our defense has got to improve. We’re committing three or four errors a game and we had four more today.”
Shelby jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first but the Warriors knotted things up in the bottom of the second when Ridge Jackson belted a wind-aided three run home run to right field. Ontario took a 4-3 lead with a run in the bottom of the third before the Whippets struck for two in the top of the fourth. No. 5 Lukas Ousley delivered the big blow for Shelby, lacing a two-run triple to center field.
The inning was prolonged when Ontario was unable to turn a double play on a bang-bang play at first base.
“We have just been so up-and-down this year,” said veteran Ontario coach Dan Gorbett, a 2006 inductee into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Assocation Hall of Fame. “In our two losses, mistakes have been our downfall. We lost to Fredericktown on a passed ball and we made a couple of mistakes today that came back to haunt us. To Shelby’s credit, they made us pay for our mistakes.
“We’ve got to get those things cleaned up.”
Ontario tied the game in the home half of the fifth before the Whippets broke it open in the fifth. Ousley stroked a two-run single and had four runs batted in on the afternoon.
“He bats fifth for us and there is a reason why he is in the middle of our lineup,” Brickman said. “He’s one of our two seniors.
No. 2 hitter Josh Lykins had four of Shelby’s 13 hits.
“We have a young team, but these guys can hit,” Brickman said. “We’re getting guys on base and finding ways to get them around to score.”
Dillon Thornsberry picked up the win for the Whippets. The left-handed sophomore surrendered five runs in four innings.
“We don’t really have an established ace of the staff,” Brickman said. “Our pitching staff is very young, but they are getting better.”
Shelby returns to action this afternoon, hosting Sandusky in another NOL game.
“This is a solid baseball league. There aren’t in easy wins,” Brickman said. “You have got to come ready to play every day.”
Gorbett agreed. The Warriors, who have won the past two Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association poll championships in Division III, moved up to Division II this spring and jumped to the NOL from the North Central Conference.
“There are no days off in this league. Every game is against tough competition,” Gorbett said. “This is a big step up and, as a team, we’ve got to step up.
“It just seems like we will take one step forward and two steps back. Today was one of those days when we took two steps back.”
The Warriors will host Willard today in NOL action.
“There is still a lot of season left,” Gorbett said. “Hopefully we’ll get it figured out.”
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
“This is a solid baseball league. There aren’t in easy wins,” Shelby’s coach C.J. Brickman said. “You have got to come ready to play every day.”
