Salem falls to Geneva; West Branch edges NDCL in district baseball
Salem lost to Geneva and West Branch edged NDCL in Division II district baseball action Monday at Louisville High School’s Biery Athletic Complex.
Late rally hurts Salem in loss to Geneva
In the opening game of the doubleheader, Geneva rallied past Salem, 5-2.
The Quakers had taken a 2-0 advantage in the third inning but the Eagles plated three runs later in the same frame to lead 3-2.
Geneva, which competes in the Chagrin Valley Conference, scored two more runs in the fifth inning to increase its advantage to 5-2 and held the Quakers scoreless over the remainder of the game to advance.
“It was a couple tough breaks,” said Salem head coach Tom Hannan of the Quakers.
The Quakers had four hits in the game while the Eagles finished with 11 hits.
Salem concluded the season with a final record of 13-11 and was playing its best baseball over the final month of the regular-season and into the tournament.
“They achieved expectations,” said Hannan of his Quakers. “They did a lot more than people thought they would, and it was my second year (as head coach) and these guys knew what to expect, they knew my style of coaching now, it’s a little different and they always play hard for me, they never quit. It’s a great group of guys and I hate for it to come to an end.”
Geneva will play third-seeded West Branch Wednesday for a district title at the Biery Athletic Complex at 5 p.m.
West Branch’s Beau Alazaus posts shutout in 1-0 win over NDCL
In the second game Monday, West Branch slipped past Notre Dame Cathedral Latin, 1-0.
West Branch’s Beau Alazaus was the winning pitcher. He threw a one-hitter and set down seven NDCL batters via strikeouts with no walks. He allowed his one hit early in the game.
“I want to make a tournament run and do something special, that’s what I want to do,” said Alazaus.
“When Beau’s on the mound we know we’re not going to give up a lot of runs, so we’re capable of being a team that can score a ton of runs,” said West Branch head coach Rick Mulinix.
“We didn’t have a lot of opportunities but when we had a little bit of traffic, he (Alazaus) was pretty quick to the plate,” lauded NDCL head baseball coach Marc Thibeault. “And I think they knew we’re a team that likes to run and that got taken away because of the low first-base percentage that we had. He was also pretty good with his move. He wasn’t picking people off, but he was definitely doing a good job of controlling the run game.”
West Branch leadoff hitter Boston Mulinix hit a double for the Warriors which plated the winning run in the fifth inning.
The Warriors had six hits in the district semifinal victory as Hunter Shields led them with a double as well as a single.
West Branch, which is 22-6, will meet Geneva, which sports a 15-5 ledger, for the district championship Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Louisville.
“Hopefully we keep it rolling and play for another week,” said Mulinix.