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Lancers head back to regional tournament
(by Steve Novak - May 28, 2009)
Lancers head back to regional tournament
By STEVE NOVAK
The official scorebooks show that Gilmour Academy's baseball team played two Division IV playoff games last week, relying on two wins to earn the Lancers a trip to regional competition this week.
But those who were present at these games also know that it was really only one inning of each of the games that made the difference in the contests.
In the fourth inning of the district semifinal game against Southington on May 21, the Lancers' erupted for 11 runs in a 14-1 victory shortened to five innings because of the run-spread rule.
The victory earned Gilmour a berth in the district final the next day against Fairport Harbor. In the bottom of the opening inning, the Lancers scored five runs to take a 5-1 lead.
That lead proved to be just the cushion that Gilmour needed in an 8-3 victory at Euclid High School.
Graham Boduzek had an RBI single for Gilmour later in the game, while Cody Osburn was the winning pitcher.
Gilmour coach John Murphy said he was happy with the way his team carried the hitting momentum from one day to the next.
"It almost as if we started again where we had left off in the first game," he said. "We had scored 11 runs the previous day and then the five more runs. We scored 16 runs in just two innings."
The Lancers' five-run first inning got off the ground when senior Bill Urban put one out of the park. With a runner on base, Urban hit one about 380-feet over the center-field fence. The hitting became contagious, and three more runners crossed the plate before the side was retired.
The victory kept the Gilmour team on a path that it should remember well from last season. With the victory over Fairport, the Lancers head for a regional semifinal game against Lake Center Christian School in Hartville. The game in Lorain at Pipe Yard Stadium.
Last season, the Gilmour team also advanced to regional competition in Lorain. The Lancers won both of their regional games, which put them in the Final Four of Division IV where they lost 5-4 in a state semifinal game against Berlin Hiland High School.
This year, Gilmour has been led by co-captains Urban and Osburn. Murphy said Urban has a batting average of .504 and Osburn is hitting.494. He said Urban and Osburn "are definitely the heart and soul of this team."
On the mound, Jake Hurley has a 5-0 and Osburn is 6-1.
Although Gilmour is a Division IV school, Murphy said the schedule included some of the top Division I teams, including St. Edward, St. Ignatius and Nordonia. He is confident that this type of competition will prove handy in the next playoff games.
"We've seen some of the best pitching in the state," he said."We know what it takes to get back to the Final Four. We know how it feels to get this far. Hopefully, this will help us to be playing for a state title."
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