HEATH ― “It’s we, not me,” is a motto that Austin Morrow, one of the youngest head coaches in the state, can relate to.
Unfortunately for Heath’s 24-year-old new baseball boss, visiting Johnstown has it stitched on the back of its hats and demonstrated a commitment to living up to those words with its veteran lineup rallying for an 8-5 win at Dave Klontz Field on April 6 in a Licking County League-Cardinal Division opener.
“It’s the same as in football for us,” said Landon Myers, the winning pitcher and one of seven seniors for the Johnnies (4-0, 1-0). “It’s not about yourself. It’s about the team. It’s a team goal, one goal we want to achieve, and that makes it easier to win baseball games.”
Johnstown capitalized on an uncharacteristic six errors by the Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1) and also used some late clutch hitting. It came back from down 5-2 in the fifth to spoil Morrow’s LCL coaching debut, but the former Heath star in baseball, football and basketball, already inducted in the school’s Hall of Fame, remains fully focused on the “we” for a highly successful program.
Legendary coach and stadium namesake Klontz won a pair of state titles for the Bulldogs. Longtime assistant Tom Warren added another as the new head coach in 2024. When Warren and Mike Saalfield, pitching coach for all three championships, retired, assistant coach Morrow was tapped to continue the tradition and feels he’s ready.
“When I was young, it was always a dream to become head baseball coach at Heath,” the 2020 graduate said. “Then, I got the opportunity to be an assistant under coach Warren, and I’m extremely blessed. But it’s about a lot more than me, a lot more than coaches or players, or any one team. It’s about Heath baseball and carrying on the legacy.”
After overpowering their first two opponents 22-2, the Bulldogs spotted the Johnnies a 2-0 first-inning lead before using textbook Heath baseball to go up 5-2. It put together three consecutive two-out RBI hits (a Cam Stephens double, Dominic Morris single and Jamison Walsh double) and stole three bases over the first three innings to go up 3-2. They did it again in the fourth, Quentin Sunkle and Trevor Enders coming through with two-out, run-scoring hits.
However, Johnstown kept the pressure on, taking advantage of three Bulldog errors in the fifth and junior Sevi Chiddention’s two-out, two-run single in rallying ahead 6-5. Then in the sixth, Myers and Braeden Archibald had two-out, RBI singles, extending it to 8-5.
Myers gave up five runs and 11 hits over six innings, striking out six with just one walk. The Johnnies played errorless baseball behind him.
“When you play a good team like them that has accomplished a lot, it takes a lot of fundamental baseball,” said Myers, who also stole home as part of a delayed steal by Archibald in the first inning.
Coach Travis Carpenter said that when you put the ball in play, good things happen.
“We just kept playing,” he said of the 5-2 deficit. “We have a lot of seniors, with a lot of experience, who have played a lot of baseball.”
Archibald, another of the seniors, said most of them have played together for many years.
“And the juniors are following us along, and they have some experience, too,” he said. “Hitting the ball hard is all you can ask. Put it in play, and they’re not able to make every play. It was a team win all the way and set the tone for everything this season.”
Luke Carter went 3-for-3 with three hits and scored twice for Johnstown, which was outhit 11-7 by Heath. Carter Holbrook doubled, while Conner Sullivan pitched a perfect seventh inning for the save.
“We’ve been a team that does not make a ton of mistakes, and in the first couple of games, we barely made any,” Morrow said. “Then we had that first error, and it kind of opened the floodgates. They just kept putting it in play, and we made mistakes. So credit to them. That’s what we needed to be doing. We had 11 hits, which was plenty, but also seven strikeouts, which was too many.”
All but one Bulldog had at least a hit, with Sunkle, Enders and Stephens collecting two apiece. Walsh yielded seven hits and eight runs over the first 5⅓ innings, but only two of the runs were earned. He walked one and struck out two. Stephens struck out the side in the seventh.
Morrow’s team is also older. Heath features eight seniors.
“They’ve played together their entire lives,” Morrow said. “They have the potential to contend for league and district titles, and win 20 games. They just have to throw the ball over the plate and execute better, at the plate and in the field.”
Athletic director Bo Hanson said the Bulldogs made the right choice by elevating Morrow, even at his young age.
“I watched him coach first base and he knows the game of baseball and he’s a true Bulldog,” Hanson said. “He came up through the system, and you can tell that by looking at him. In 30 years, I can still see him standing in that coaching box.”
Observed coach Carpenter: “They’re in good hands.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: As Morrow takes Heath reins, Johnstown sets tone with early LCL win
Reporting by Dave Weidig, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
