The name of the team was the name of the game yesterday as Start's fast start put a finish to Whitmer's tournament run with a 5-2 win in a Division I district baseball final at Scott Park.
Staked to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Panther junior starter Brian Rachuba walked three Spartans and made an error in the bottom half before yielding a three-run double to junior third baseman Jake Rossler.
Rachuba, behind 4-1 on four unearned runs, pitched well thereafter - one walk and five hits over the next 51/3 innings.
But the damage was done, enough for junior starter Corey Maurer (4 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs) and senior reliever Josh Moulton (3 no-hit innings) to hurl the Spartans into the 15th regional appearance in the school's 40-year existence.
“We wanted to keep the tradition going,” Moulton said. “We didn't want to break it.”
Start (23-4) plays defending D-I champ Cleveland St. Ignatius (21-6) at 5 p.m. Friday at Shelby High School. Whitmer exits with a 16-8 record.
Perrysburg (21-6) plays Berea (17-7) in the 2 p.m. semifinal Friday at Shelby. The final is 1 p.m. Saturday.
Aside from the first inning, when Whitmer sophomore shortstop J.J. Fought (2-for-3) tripled and scored on a wild pitch, Maurer's only mistake was a fourth-inning homer by Kyle Kozlowski.
“We got a big lead and I just felt very comfortable after that,” said Maurer, who threw just 42 pitches. “The curveball was working, the fastball was coming around, and they were chasing some pitches.”
Start's other run came in the fifth when Moulton hit a one-out infield single, tagged and hustled to second on Tom Arvay's flyout to right, and scored on Jon Frank's single over first base.
“That first inning was key, because we could have been out of it,” Whitmer coach Gary O'Connor said. “The bunt we dropped and a little pop fly we couldn't get to down the [first base] line. Bottom line, we get either of those two and we're out of the inning with no runs. But, give it to Start, they put the bat on the ball when they needed to.”
In the first, Rachuba walked leadoff hitter Rob Hemmig, bobbled Alex Frank's bunt try, forced Hemmig at third on Moulton's sacrifice attempt, then walked Arvay. After fanning Jon Frank, he walked Nick Danielski to force in one run and set the stage for Rossler.
“Coach [Rich Arbinger] told me, [Rachuba] has been struggling out there, so a fastball would be the first pitch he'd throw,” Rossler said. “I sat on that and he threw a fastball right down the middle. I took a rip at it and got it over the center fielder's head.”
“I thought both pitchers threw very well and we were able to hold them,” said Arbinger, who has coached Start to 13 of its 15 district titles over his 28 seasons. “Some of the plays went our way today and we came out on top.”
CL PLAYOFFS TOMORROW: Start will face defending champion Waite (15-8) tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at Scott Park in a City League playoff semifinal. St. John's (18-7) plays St. Francis (14-5) in the 3 p.m. semifinal. The CL title game is 5 p.m. Wednesday.
First Published May 25, 2003, 11:27 a.m.