by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

After notching its first win of the 2008 season last week, the Maple Heights baseball team received a setback, losing three games in a row.

The Mustangs' victory was a 14-11 road triumph over Cleveland Shaw April 8.

Following that game, Maple Heights fell 26-6 against Newberry at home the following day; lost 17-3 to Bedford on the road on April 10; and then dropped a 13-12 heartbreaker in eight innings to Warrensville Heights on the road on Monday, April 14.

With that stretch of contests, the Mustangs now own an overall record of 1-3. They're also 1-2 in the Erie Division of the Lake Erie League.

Sean Williams started on the mound for Maple Heights against Shaw. He was eventually relieved by senior Abdul Ismael, who earned the pitching victory.

A number of Mustangs contributed two hits to the squad's offensive attack. Senior Marc Beechuck led the way with a single, triple and two RBIs.

In addition, sophomore Tim Ciccarello added two hits and an RBI, while Ismael was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs and freshman Clay Miller went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

"It was another marathon game," said Maple Heights head coach Dan Kovalak. "We had trouble finding the strike zone again, especially early. Sean Williams walked five batters, but our senior, Ishmael, calmed things down."

In the game against Newberry, the Mustangs were forced to use the junior varsity field. Unfortunately, the varsity field is still out of commission due to the inclement weather that the area endured before the start of the spring sports season.

Once again, Maple Heights pitchers experienced difficulty finding the strike zone-at lot of difficulty. Kovalak burned through four pitchers, but the Mustangs ended up issuing a total of 14 free passes anyway.

"I tried everybody on the mound, but all of them struggled big time," said Kovalak. "Not only that, Newberry was 0-5 at the time. They definitely took their frustrations out on us."

Beechuck smacked an RBI double for Maple Heights.

Against Bedford, the Mustangs had trouble in the field, committing nine errors.

"Defense was a huge problem in that game," said Kovalak. "We had nine errors, and they were pretty much spread out among everybody. We were in the game until the third inning, and that's when the floodgates opened up."

Aaron Russell had a triple and RBI for Maple Heights, while Ciccarello doubled and junior Deontay Tolliver singled twice.

In the one-run loss to Warrensville, the Mustangs once again walked a lot of batters.

"We had a huge problem with control," said Kovalak. "It didn't help us that we had a few errors, too. We're just playing ugly baseball right now. We've had a few guys out with injuries, and Monday was the first time that we had everybody back."

On April 17, the Mustangs will play Keystone in a make-up game, and on April 18 they'll clash with John Marshall. Both of those games are on the road.

On April 19, Maple Heights is slated to visit Kenston for a doubleheader.

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113