Fallsnewspress.com - Arms, bats at full force for Woodridge baseball

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Over the last few seasons, Rootstown has been the closest thing the Woodridge baseball team has had to a foil in the Portage Trail Conference County Division.

The Rovers have given the Bulldogs fits in recent seasons and Woodridge coach Dennis Dever said that closeness has bred some contempt between the two programs.

"It's obviously a heated rivalry over the last few years and we're very much looking forward to playing Rootstown," Dever said. "They lost a lot of talent over the last couple of years. Eventually, that's going to catch up to anybody."

Woodridge's enthusiasm for the rivalry was reflected in the score.

After getting rained out April 28, Woodridge pounded out a 13-0 home win in five innings over Rootstown April 29 in a game that featured a no-hitter from starter Jordan Wilhite.

The Bulldogs then traveled to Rootstown April 30 and came home with a 11-1 win in five innings.

With the victories, Woodridge improved to 15-3, 8-0 in the PTC County Division, while Rootstown fell to 5-14, 1-7 in the County Division.

Dever said his team's bats are starting to swing like he thought they would at the season's outset.

"I'm really happy right now with the way we're playing," Dever said. "Our bats have finally woken up, our defense has been solid and our pitching has been outstanding. I think our kids have been working hard to take some of the kinks out their swings in practice and we're seeing the result of that on the field."

Game one of the series saw Wilhite continue his incredible form. In five innings, Wilhite held the Rovers hitless and struck out four batters, while allowing three walks.

Wilhite's numbers on the season are impressive. His record stands at 4-0 with one save and a 0.27 earned-run average. Wilhite has given up only one run this season in 26.1 innings of work, while striking out 31 and walking four in that time.

Dever said there's no secret to Wilhite's success.

"Jordan's one of the hardest workers I've ever had," Dever said. "He's a tenacious competitor. He'll just keep working at it until he achieves what he wants."

While Wilhite was unhittable, the Bulldogs offense had no such issue, banging out 14 hits.

As usual, center fielder Nick Jones led the charge, going 3-of-3 with a single, a double, a triple and two RBIs. Jones leads the Bulldogs' offense in nearly ever category as he is hitting .532 with 33 hits, 22 RBIs, 30 runs scored and seven home runs.

Catcher Mike DeBord also had a solid game with a single, a double and two RBIs. Dever said DeBord's bat has caught fire in recent games, as he is hitting .519 with 28 hits and 22 RBIs.

Dever said left fielder Rick Cavanaugh also has been hot since moving to the Bulldogs' leadoff spot. Cavanaugh had a single, two runs scored and his team-high fourth triple in the win.

Right fielder Andy Fay tacked on two singles and two runs.

"We've been kind of in a groove the last four games and it has been nice to see," Dever said.

Game two against the Rovers saw Jones take the mound and pitch four solid innings, allowing two hits and one run, while striking out eight. Anthony Westren pitched a scoreless fifth inning to close it out.

Jones is having nearly as good a year on the mound as at the plate, as he improved to 4-1 with a 1.11 ERA. He is averaging nearly two strikeouts an inning (59 strikeouts in 31.2 innings).

Offensively, Fay had his second straight big game with a triple, two singles, two RBIs and two runs scored. DeBord added a double, two singles and two RBIs.

Third baseman Tom Barracato had a single, a double and two RBIs, as did shortstop Dave Krusinski.

Woodridge was set to travel to Strongsville May 1 but results were not available at press time.

The Bulldogs return to County Division action May 5 at home against East Canton and then travel to East Canton May 6. Game times both days is at 4:30 p.m.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113