Coach sees potential in baseball team

Like most coaches, Dave Daniels doesn't believe in moral victories.

However, he's pleased with how his Westland High School baseball team has played this season.

The Cougars entered their game against Dublin Coffman on April 14 at 3-8 overall and 0-4 in the OCC-Central Division, but they had been competitive in most games.

"We're learning how to play the game," Daniels said. "There's enough talent there. When they put everything together and learn to play the game right, we can hang with anybody."

Last season, Westland lost by 10 or more runs 11 times on its way to a 3-23 finish. The Cougars went 0-14 in the OCC-Central.

This season, the Cougars have lost by the 10-run mercy rule only once, 11-1 to Coffman on April 8.

"That's been a big positive," junior Kris Carius said. "Last year we lost a lot worse. This year we're a year older, so it's a lot better losing 2-1 than 11-0."

Westland's wins came over Brookhaven 10-0 in five innings on April 7 and Fairfield Union 8-6 and 9-6 on April 9.

The Cougars opened the season with an 11-8 loss to Whitehall on March 29 and have lost three other games by four or fewer runs, including a 2-1 defeat against Worthington Kilbourne on April 13.

The Wolves improved to 4-0 in the league entering the rematch with Westland on April 15.

"(Kilbourne) is 4-0 in the league and they won it last year, so we're not going to play anybody better than them," Daniels said after the first meeting. "There are no moral victories; we still lost. But we're starting to play better and they sense that."

The Cougars tied the game at 1 in the third inning when Lineurys Sanchez scored on a single by Steven Gonzalez.

The Wolves took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Brandon Randolph scored on a double steal.

D.J. Taylor was the losing pitcher. He allowed one earned run and four hits with one strikeout and three walks in the complete-game effort.

Westland had five hits against Kilbourne pitcher Jacob Niggemeyer.

"We have to put the ball in play," Carius said. "We didn't put the ball in play that much today."

The Cougars' lineup took a hit in the first game of the doubleheader against Fairfield Union when junior utility player Junior Reyes broke his right hand sliding into third base and was lost for the season. Before April 14, Reyes led the team in hitting with a .375 average.

"We're going to miss his bat a lot," Daniels said.

Carius was second on the team in hitting at .370 and was 2-1 on the mound. Sanchez was batting .343 followed by Jake Cook (.333) and Taylor (.321).

"I'm always an optimist," Daniels said. "The boys have ability to play. They're going to put it together and once they beat a good team like Kilbourne, it's going to be a little sigh of relief for just maybe the realization that it can be done and this is what it feels like."

•The softball team entered its game against Thomas Worthington on April 14 at 5-4 overall and 1-3 in the OCC-Central.

The Cougars lost to Upper Arlington 7-0 on April 13.

Westland had three hits against winning pitcher Mandie Abbruzzese and committed six errors.

"I keep telling the kids that if you don't score runs, the best you can ask for is a tie," Westland coach Mike North said. "We scattered a few hits and made a few mistakes. I'll be the first one to admit that I had a bad game, too, so we kind of all suffered together on this one."

The Cougars earned their first OCC-Central victory April 7 against Coffman. Westland scored six runs in the sixth inning to win 9-6.