Western Reserve falls in district title game

SHELBY — Things went from bad to worse. Western Reserve was already down by five runs in the first inning when starting pitcher Landyn Wiegel collided with Colonel Crawford baserunner Joe Zizzo. Wiegel left the game and didn't return. Things didn't improve much for the second-seeded Roughriders from there, falling 7-1 to fourth-seeded Colonel Crawford in a Division VI district final Friday at Shelby High School. Western finishes the season with a record of 10-13. "We told them we were at an adversity standpoint," said Western Reserve coach Josh Good of the early deficit and injury. "We still had some situations where we could plug away a couple runs. Their pitcher was dealing, but it was really a 2-1 ballgame after the first five runs. We left a couple runs on the board." The Eagles (13-13) hit Wiegel early. Starting pitcher Parker Weithman singled before Deagan Moore tattooed a double to the fence to make it 1-0. Van Wintersteller followed with a single before Nate McCartney was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Wiegel induced a grounder, but his throw home was wide, allowing two runs to score. Grady Riggle followed with a run-scoring groundout to make it 4-0. "Their first three guys came out and swung the bat well," Good said. "I thought our pitcher was throwing strikes and they hit his curveball. He left it up maybe a little bit. Those first three batters drove the ball." Wiegel bounced back with a strikeout, but the third strike was dropped and the throw went to first for the out. Wiegel covered home plate on the throw back, but took the brunt of the hit when Zizzo slid in safely. Wiegel stayed down for a few minutes before being helped off the field as Colonel Crawford went up 5-0. "It was one of those situations where it was a baseball play," Good said. "Nothing malicious or anything. He just slid into him and I'm glad he's OK." Tyler Wood came on and got the third out and pitched a 1-2-3 second inning before running into trouble in the third inning. He walked four in the inning and the Eagles scored twice. Wood did limit the damage, leaving the bases loaded when he got Weithman to lineout. Western Reserve never got much going offensively against Weithman. Connor Harmeling doubled with two outs in the first, but was stranded. The Roughriders scored their lone run in the fourth when Harmeling reached on a dropped third strike. He scored when Cooper Zunis laced a double to the wall, cutting the deficit to 7-1. Western had a runner in scoring position in each of the last three innings, but never found a timely hit. "To be able to put a little more pressure on them, you have to get guys on base earlier in the inning," Good said. "A majority of the time we had two outs when we got guys on base. It was hard to play a little bit of small ball when you're trying to get a guy on base, get him over and get him in. "That's what we've stressed all year, but it's hard to do when you have one or two outs and you finally get your first guy on base." Cooper Roe went the final four innings on the mound for WR. He got in and out of trouble in the fourth and sixth innings, allowing just three hits. "They both pitched well," said Good of Wood and Roe. "Tyler we had on a short leash after coming back from some shoulder soreness. They kept the ball down and did what they were supposed to do. They gave us some groundballs and weak flyballs." Nolan Ryan, Harmeling and Ethan Baker are the lone seniors for Western Reserve. The Roughriders reached a district final for the first time since 2008. "It gets harder the longer you last," Good said. "From the team standpoint of buying in, the accountability is what we stressed all year long. We had a talented group last year and it was tough with accountability. "We had some young guys that stepped up in terms of accountability and put the team on their back." Colonel Crawford 502 000 0 — 7 7 0Western Reserve 000 100 0 — 1 3 1WP: Weithman. LP: Wiegel2B: (CC) Moore, Metzger; (WR) Harmeling, Zunis