The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Titans romp over Demons
Lorain captures sectional semifinal, advances to face St. Edward
Lorain is advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2013 after a dominant 9-1 win over Westlake in a Division I sectional semifinal May 7 at the Pipe Yard.
The Titans got contributions across the board. Eight of the nine players in the lineup got on base at least once in a well-rounded performance from a team fresh off its third Lake Erie League championship in as many seasons.
Lorain, the seventh seed in the D-I Lorain District, will face No. 2 St. Edward on May 8 in a sectional final.
“We finished the season pretty strong, winning the LEL. So we told the guys this is a one-game season, one game at a time,” Lorain coach Brad Ternes said. “They came out today, they were hyped up, Julius (Harrington) did a great job on the mound, our defense supported and the bats came alive today which is good to see.”
Westlake (5-11) came out with an aggressive approach and scored the first run in the top half of the first inning thanks to some speedy base running from Billy Blood.
Blood was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then stole second and third base before Kendrick Henry’s bunt drove him home.
The Demons’ bats stayed relatively quiet the rest of the game as Lorain starter Harrington allowed a mere four hits over seven innings.
“I think I warmed up a little too early because usually we play at 4:30,” Harrington said of allowing the first run. “I timed it wrong, so I wasn’t really warm when I came out at first then I got into a rhythm.”
Lorain (13-8) answered with a run of its own when cleanup hitter Manny Brown, who as of May 1 had a team-high 24 hits, hit an RBI single to tie the game.
Brown was one of three Titans with multi-hit games. The others were Jeff Santana and No. 9 hitter A.J. Ramos, and five total players recorded a hit.
“I just needed to do something to get my team going offensively and everything else followed up,” Brown said.
“When everybody’s hitting, everybody’s on their ‘A’ game, it’s definitely a more fun environment to be around . ... So when you do thrive for the team, you do things like that, it gets your morale going and gets you hyped up.”
The Titans eventually built on a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning when they scored six runs off three hits and took advantage of some Westlake errors to essentially dash any hope it had of making a comeback.
With Harrington at the top of his game and the fast Lorain outfield tracking everything hit its way, the Demons’ frustrations mounted as every error was magnified and the game quickly fell out of reach.
“We knew going into the game that, for one, with the wind being like it is out here and, two, (Lorain) having the athletes they have that you have to put the ball
on the ground and hope to god you hit it to the right guy. But anything in the air is pretty much a guaranteed out against these guys,” Westlake coach Larry Mosley said. “I mean, they’re pretty exciting to watch.
“A team like (Lorain), they’re chirping, they make the atmosphere amazing, but at the same time, once one wheel fell off the wheels just came off all together.”