Heath baseball gets contributions throughout lineup as surge continues
HEATH ― Paul Gould, Heath's steady senior catcher, doesn't always get to bat in the Bulldogs' stacked lineup.
But when he does, he takes full advantage.
Case in point: Wednesday's Licking County League crossover game against visiting Granville. Batting ninth, Gould drove in Heath's first run and also had a bunt single, as the lower part of the lineup help triggered the ninth consecutive victory by a 7-1 count at Dave Klontz Field.
"We've been getting hits in bunches, but the important thing is, we're getting more production out of the bottom of the lineup," Coach Tom Warren said after the Bulldogs, Ohio's fifth ranked Division III team according to MaxPreps, improved to 13-1, 8-0. "The coaches talked, and said that if we can produce in the six through nine spots, we can be pretty good."
The sixth hitter, designated hitter Jaiden Dansby, jump-started Heath's six-run, fourth-inning explosion with an RBI double and also singled, with the Bulldogs six through nine batters producing five of their seven hits Wednesday.
"It feels good to contribute, both in the field and at the plate," said Gould, who also threw a runner out stealing. "We've been hitting everything, but we weren't connecting the hits together at the beginning of the season like we are now. I try to go backside and don't pull it. During the off season, some of us worked with (assistant) coach (Austin) Morrow on going backside. We're a speed team, and we need base runners to take advantage of it."
Although Heath left the bases loaded in the third inning against Granville freshman left hander Luke Bosse, Gould gave them a 1-0 lead when he singled to right, scoring Wyatt Binckley who had singled and been sacrificed to second by Conner Toomey. Then in the fourth, Riley Baum led off with a single and was running on the pitch when Dansby doubled into the right center field gap, making it 2-0.
"It was perfect. I got the pitch I wanted and took it the other way," Dansby said. "At the beginning of the season, things weren't clicking, so I started putting in a little extra work on my own. It got going, then it slowed down. But I kept working, and I've started clicking again."
The Bulldogs kept rolling after that. Binckley reached on a throwing error on his bunt, Gould had a bunt single and Connor Corbett laced a two-run single to center. Kaden Green had an RBI groundout and Hayden Woodward a sacrifice fly as Heath sent nine to the plate and opened a 7-0 lead, more than enough for Woodward on the mound.
The sturdy right hander threw 107 pitches in a complete game, but allowed only four hits, struck out seven and walked three.
"Woodward is a dog," Dansby said. "He's committed, and every game, he comes to play. He's the guy."
Added Gould: "It's not just Woody. It's all of our pitchers, who put a lot of trust in our defense. It's one of the best in Ohio."
Granville (8-6, 5-4) had won four of its last five, but committed an error in the third inning and two during Heath's eruption. The Blue Aces are without injured senior Nolan Tracy and started four sophomores as well as Bosse on Wednesday, but Coach Justin Richards was not making any excuses.
"You can't mistakes against a good team, and some of our pitch location wasn't good, either," he said. "And that's a good team, actually a great team, the best we've played this season, hands down. They can hit, don't make mistakes, play great defense, and their pitcher kept us off balance. Our kids weren't making adjustments at the plate, but all the credit to Heath."
The Blue Aces got on the board in the sixth when sophomore Jakob Culver walked and eventually scored on a throwing error, Heath's only miscue of the game. Sophomore Wilson Wells had two hits.
"We're definitely making progress," Richards said. "We came from behind three times against Heights on Monday and we had 24 hits in our last two games, but we might have played our worst game today. Our kids have to learn to be committed in every single inning, every single game. There's going to be highs and there's going to be lows, and we have to find that middle ground."
Warren was happy with the performance of his veteran team, which started seven seniors Wednesday.
"Granville was a big game for us. They can beat anyone, and have," he said. "We still have a few things to clean up."
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Heath baseball gets contributions throughout lineup as surge continues
