By Shawn Ellwood
POLAND OH- A massive rubber match between NE8 foes lived up to the hype on Wednesday night as Poland created a big enough lead to help fend off a late rally by South Range, securing a 5-3 win over the Raiders in the district semifinals.
Poland would be able to strike first, taking advantage of some defensive miscues in the 1st as Carmine Tukalo would come across on a wild pitch to get the Bulldogs on the board before Aiden Perry would come around on a sacrifice fly from Dylan Kelty to give Poland an early 2-0 lead.
Carmine Tukalo would come across again in the 2nd on an error in the field before he would take an advantage of another error in the 4th, as Tukalo would smack a double before coming all the way around on a misthrow to score a “little-league” inside-the-parker to stretch the lead. Kelley Memo would deliver an RBI single in the 5th to give Poland a 5-0 lead, as Bulldogs looked to keep pulling away.
Grady Pitzulo was also electric on the mound throughout the night for the Bulldogs, holding the Raiders to a shutout through 6 innings while finishing the night with 5 strikeouts, looking to be able to put the game away once and for all in the 7th.
But the Raiders were not going to go away easy. With the bases loaded and two outs, Julian Tranovich would draw a walk to bring Mark Aey across and get South Range on the board. Wilson Lower would immediately follow up by smacking a 2-run single into center field to cut the lead to 5-3. But on a 3-2 count, Owen Mckenzie would tally a strikeout on the mound for Poland and slam the door shut on the Raiders’ late rally, as the Bulldogs were finally able to put the game to rest.
With the win, Poland (17-6) advances to the Division 5 District Finals at Cene Park as the #5 Bulldogs will look to keep their season alive as they get set to square off with #10 Crestview on Friday. Unfortunately for South Range, this game marks an end to their season, finishing with an 16-11 record.