Wooster, Triway baseball teams having stellar seasons
Wooster High’s baseball team will rely heavily down the stretch on pitchers Elisha Steiner, left, Brady Bowen and AJ Likowski.
There are lots of good things happening for both the Wooster and Triway high school baseball teams this spring. Here’s a trip around the bases sharing some of the highlights …
Generals winning the close ones
Wooster owned an 11-2 (7-1 Ohio Cardinal Conference) record entering the week, and a big reason for its success has been an ability to pull out close wins. The Generals are 5-1 in games decided by two runs or less.
“From the standards that we’re trying to set, we would argue that we probably shouldn’t have had that many close games,” Wooster coach Steve Young said. “We have not been as clean as we’d like, but we’re winning games. The grit and competitiveness that I’ve seen from these guys is very promising.”
Wooster is trying for the program’s first league championship three-peat since the 1980s. The Generals started five freshmen last year and are still considered a young team with those players now sophomores.
Senior Blake Bowen, a Kentucky signee, entered the week leading the team in batting average (.500, 17-34), on-base percentage (.667), home runs (2) and walks (17).
Sophomores Ben Winge (.378, six doubles), AJ Likowski (.351), Brady Bowen (.300, team-high 17 RBI, 14 runs) and Sam Nielsen (.292) also have swung the bats well.
Senior Elisha Steiner is hitting .286 with four doubles, 12 RBI and 10 runs.
Three pitchers the Generals will lean heavily on down the stretch are Brady Bowen (4-0, 1.58 ERA, 29 Ks, 26.2 IP), Steiner (2-0, 8.30, 18 Ks, 12.2 IP) and Likowski (3-0, 0.00, 12 Ks, 8.1 IP).
The Generals have an OCC series with Mansfield Senior this week, followed by Madison the following week and then Ashland. A home matchup with the Arrows on May 10 could decide the outright OCC title.
OHSAA limits Wright to half season
The OHSAA ruled earlier this month that Wooster senior Luke Wright can only play in the first 14 games, even though he lives in Wooster.
Wright, who moved to the district after playing for Northwestern the previous three years, is batting .333 with nine RBI and nine runs scored. The 6-foot-3 lefty also is 1-1 on the mound with a 4.30 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched.
Young called it unfortunate Wright won’t be able to play the entire season. The coach didn’t want to get into the technicalities but said it’s been great to have him on the team.
“Luke was saying that he never really knew that he could play in college, and I told him, ‘You could definitely play in college,’” Young said. “He’s a tall lefty and could be a good pitcher — definitely in Div. III and maybe in Div. II. He throws low to mid-80s and was consistently throwing 68-70% strikes, and that’s big.
“We’re going to try to keep developing his skill set. If he decides he wants to go play in college, I think he will have a lot of people knocking on the door.”
Titans’ nine-game winning streak
Coach Justin McDowell’s Triway Titans boasted a nine-game winning streak after a 4-1 win over CVCA on Monday.
Triway (10-2, 6-1 Principals Athletic Conference) won the opener of a two-game series scheduled against CVCA (9-6, 6-2). Manchester (8-1, 6-1) and Orrville (7-6, 6-2) also are battling for the PAC title.
McDowell knew entering the season how the varsity newcomers responded would be a big key, and they’ve been up to the challenge.
“Coming into the year, we had several talented multi-year starters to replace,” McDowell said. “We brought back a lot of talent, but I think our younger guys needed to see and trust that they were good enough to play varsity. We lost two close games to start the season, but our players really responded well and we are in the midst of playing solid baseball.”
Triway believes it can win any game Chad Harper (3-1, 2.70 ERA, 33 Ks, 28.1 IP) and Simon Kitchen (2-1, 1.50 ERA, 25 Ks, 22.2 IP) take the mound in.
“Harper and Kitchen have been outstanding,” McDowell said. “Behind them, we have played solid defense with Easton Barnard at catcher, Grant Schag at short and Riley Gumber at third.
“Offensively, we have swung it well the past few games. We have received huge contributions from seniors through sophomores. Seniors Kade Whitman, Cooper Barton, Logan Shilling and Culver Sidle have set the example for our younger guys.”
Schag has come into his own as a sophomore, entering the week with a team-best .500 batting average (14-28), 11 RBI, 13 runs and 10 stolen bases.
Also excelling have been Harper (.459, 6 2B, 1 3B, 11 RBI, 9 R) and Barnard (.440, 5 2B, 15 R, 9 SB). Barnard has only allowed five stolen bases in 11 games at catcher.
Triway, Wooster hosting Sean Carmichael Classic
The Sean Carmichael Classic will consist of six games on April 29, with Triway and Wooster hosting three games apiece.
The schedule is as follows at Triway: Orrville vs. Norwayne at 10 a.m., Dalton vs. Triway at 1 p.m. and Waynedale vs. Akron Hoban at 4 p.m.
At Wooster the schedule looks like this: Smithville vs. West Holmes at 10 a.m., Medina Buckeye vs. Wooster at 1 p.m. and Alliance vs. Lake at 4 p.m.
“It’s a big week in more ways than just baseball with the Carmichael Classic this Saturday,” McDowell said of the Classic, which will honor the late Sean Carmichael, a Triway alum and longtime Titans coach who’s in the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame. “Coach Carmichael was such a big part of Triway and Wayne County, so we are happy that this tournament in his honor is continuing to grow, and we have some new teams in it this year.”
The Classic will be extra special as Derek Carmichael, Sean’s son, is the Hoban head coach and will return home to match his Knights against 2022 Div. III state champ Waynedale.
Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com.