Mustang baseball looking to turn corner

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by Devan Matthews

Correspondent

In what has been an up-and-down season for the Maple Heights High School baseball team, the Mustangs appear ready to steady their ship in time for the second half of the 2008 campaign.

Maple Heights played five games recently, winning two of them. The first contest was a 14-13 loss at the hands of Warrensville Heights on the road April 15.

"We struggled pitching the ball again," said Maple Heights head coach Dan Kovalak. "We also struggled defensively. We made quite a few errors and gave away too many extra outs. Our biggest problem is that we had one bad inning, an eight-run fourth inning. Otherwise, we would have been right there."

Sophomore Aaron Russell led the Mustangs at the plate. He was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. In addition, junior Darius Carr went 3-for-4, and senior Mark Beechuk was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

"We were supposed to play at home, but our field still wasn't ready," said Kovalak. "We actually played nine straight games this season without playing on our home field."

On April 17, Maple Heights traveled to Keystone for a make-up game. The Mustangs and the Wildcats were scheduled to play in the season opener, but that contest was postponed.

Keystone defeated Maple Heights handily, winning 13-3 in five innings.

The Mustangs picked up a victory in their next outing, an 11-9 triumph over John Marshall on the road on Friday, April 18.

Senior Abdul Ismael was the winning pitcher, completing six innings of work. Beechuk pitched the final frame for the save.

Sophomore Kevin Thomas was the player of the game for Maple Heights. He was 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and four stolen bases. In addition, Russell went 2-for-5 and Carr was 2-for-3.

According to Kovalak, the Mustangs started that game well.

"We led 7-0 in the first inning," he said. "We were smacking the ball around pretty good, and then they (the Lawyers) calmed down. We had a few good innings, but they got a bunch of runs in the sixth inning and made a game of it. We were able to squeak it out, though. It was a good win."

Maple Heights played a doubleheader against Kenston on the road April 19. The Bombers, who were dedicating their new field, beat the Mustangs 12-2 in the first game and 14-2 in the second contest. Both games ended after five innings.

Beechuk was one of the lone bright spots. He went 2-for-3 in the nightcap.

On April 21, Maple Heights throttled Lake Erie League Erie Division rival Bedford by the score of 10-0 at home in five innings. It marked the first time that the Mustangs played a game on their home field this season.

Earlier in the campaign, Bedford crushed Maple Heights by a 17-3 margin.

Ismael twirled a complete game on the mound, improving his pitching record to 3-1.

"The kid's amazing," said Kovalak. "He's a big left-hander and he's a battler out there, not to mention the fact he's one of the nicest kids in the world."

Offensively, Russell was 2-for-4 with a triple; Thomas singled twice and stole two bases; and senior Mike Payne, freshman Clay Miller and Carr were all 2-for-3. Carr added a pair of stolen bases.

"Kevin is having a great turnaround year," said Kovalak. "As a sophomore last season, he hit about .140. This year, he's hitting over .350.

As of press time, Maple Heights' record stood at 3-7 overall, and the Mustangs sport a mark of 2-3 in the Erie Division.

On April 24, the Mustangs will travel to Cleveland Heights.

"We're starting to play decent baseball," said Kovalak. "We're seeing some guys fit into their roles and everybody's coming together."

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113