Baseball: D-I top-ranked Centerville beats D-II No. 2 Troy 6-0 in postseason tuneup
May 14—CENTERVILLE — It's the final two weeks of the high school baseball season, which means it's time for some of the area's top programs to showcase their matchmaking skills by tangling with each other in competitive, non-league dress rehearsals for the upcoming playoffs. These contests are usually scheduled the summer before, so it's a sign of mutual respect when schools sign contracts to play during this pre-postseason period. And while every coach takes a different philosophical and structural stance toward this preparation stage, both Troy's Ty Welker and Centerville's Jason Whited agree on one strategy — the tougher the foe, the better.
And while there are plenty of eye-opening matchups coming in the area over the next several days, few will boast the marquee star power of Centerville's 6-0 win over Troy on Wednesday, May 13, at Engleka-Dickten Field in Centerville. Coming in, the elite-level clubs had put up some gaudy regular season numbers, combining for a 41-4 record with 432 runs scored — and just 108 allowed. The host Elks are ranked first in the state in Division I, while Troy is ranked No.
2 in Division II, and both squads were coming off dominant runs toward their respective conference championships. "I could go out and try to win 25 games every year if I wanted to schedule teams that weren't competitive," Welker said. "I asked the guys if they wanted to run-rule every team or if they wanted to play teams that are going to make us better.
Playing teams like Centerville is a challenge for our guys, but I think it's going to pay off. " Whited's strategic approach to the matchup was pure playoff big-game planning as the Elks utilized station-to-station baseball and attempted five sacrifice bunts while riding a complete-game three-hitter from senior hurler Luke "Magic" Maciejewski to earn the victory over the Trojans. "That's the approach we take offensively, and that's how you win close games in the playoffs," Whited said.
"You're not going to get as many opportunities against good teams like Troy, so you have to play run by run. Then, one run can turn into three and you have a big inning. " Centerville's prolific frame came in the bottom of the second and began with a one-out fielding miscue by the Trojans (20-3).
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