Area H.S. football: Week 2
Greenon vs. Cedarville
Northeastern vs. Urbana
Centerville baseball powers past Wayne
The Elks run-rule the Warriors, scoring 10 runs on nine hits, including two homers.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
CENTERVILLE — If the Centerville High School baseball team keeps this up, it'll blow its reputation as a small-ball team.
The homer-happy Elks used the long ball again in blitzing Wayne 10-0 in a six-inning, run-rule decision Friday, April 25, at Boosters Park. They have tormented pitchers this week, scoring 42 runs in four games.
Extras
Junior catcher Eric McCoy joined the parade with his first career home run, one that traveled 380 feet over the left-center fence. He added an RBI single in the sixth that provided the game-ending 10th run. Steven Laake hit a three-run homer in the fourth.
Augmenting the nine-hit attack was another masterful performance by junior left-hander Andrew Brown (5-0). All Brown did was silence the Warriors on a measly two hits and fan a season-high 10. Brown has a high-impact friendship with batterymate McCoy.
"I've been pitching to Eric since I was in the fifth grade," Brown said. "We've been a good combination ... my fastball was tailing away and hitting the inside corner. I was getting good movement and several called strikes. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have all that run support, either."
The Elks have pounded 12 dingers this season en route to a 10-4 record and 4-0 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference Central Division.
"Oh, we still like to execute the sacrifice bunt, the hit-and-run and the stolen base," Centerville coach Terry Dickten said with a smile. "Our small-ball attack has taken a back seat to the home run lately. The guys are hitting the ball very well. We'll see if it continues Monday when we go against Beavercreek and its ace (Mike Hauschild)."
In Alfonso Soriano-like fashion, leadoff batter Mike Steinke has clubbed four homers to lead the team.
"All we want to do is take the ball hard up the middle or go gap-to-gap," Laake said. "A lot of those balls are going over the fence. A lot of focus and unity help, along with the weights and work in the batting cage."
Senior-laden Wayne is 6-8, 0-4.
"Brown is a nice young pitcher who stayed ahead of our hitters," Warriors coach Tony Ferraro said. "He looked college-caliber to me, mixing all his pitches."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2478 or rjackson@DaytonDailyNews.com
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