PATASKALA – Watkins Memorial baseball had the edge in all three phases April 8 to earn an 11-1 victory against visiting Lakewood in Licking County League-Buckeye Division play. Nine seniors, including left-hander Logan Grezlik, play for the Warriors.
“We lost a lot of firepower last year, and I think teams are going to look at that and treat us differently,” Grezlik said after he threw five innings. “I think we are bigger and better than last year. We are hitting the ball way better than last year. We lost some arms, but we have defense behind us to back up our arms.”
Watkins (4-2, 2-0), which fell last year in a Division II district final to eventual regional champion New Albany, took a 3-0 lead against Lakewood in the second inning and broke it open with two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth. Senior Tanner Neal beat out a ground ball deep in the hole at shortstop with two outs to score the game’s first run. Two Lakewood errors followed. A fly ball was lost in sun-splashed right field on the latter.
Watkins added a run in the third on senior Dom Yosick’s groundout and the first run in the fourth on classmate Dylan Gray’s sacrifice fly. Senior Cam Burt, Gray and junior Kaden Barrows each hit RBI singles in the fifth, and it was back to small ball in the sixth when Neal laid down a squeeze bunt for the game-ending run.
“Right now, the nice thing is with moving parts and pieces, things are working out,” Watkins coach Donald Schone said. “We have been swinging the bats pretty well and taking advantage of when they give us a freebie. We executed when we had two outs because that’s a big piece of it. We extended innings.”
Lakewood (1-4, 0-2) opened the game with a double from sophomore Evan Moore and a single from junior Tegan Riley. Grezlik, however, escaped the jam with help from Gray, who caught Riley stealing.
“They started off hot early, and I was getting a little worried,” Grezlik said. “I have been throwing to [Gray] since I was 12. I knew I just had to stay in my game and battle through it. [Gray] saved me a lot at times, and it helps to know you can trust your defense to get you through things like that.”
Grezlik, who struck out six, stranded multiple runners in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Barrows had struck out nine in four innings during an 11-1 victory against Zanesville two days earlier.
Those two moved up in the rotation following the graduation of Bradley Vincent and Brayden Windnagel. Yosick, who transferred from Licking Heights, has made two starts, and sophomore Tyler Finley allowed just one run over 3⅔ innings of relief in a scrimmage during the Warriors’ spring trip to Tennessee on March 27, adding to the Warriors’ depth
“[Grezlik] knew what he was coming into this year,” Gray said. “We knew we needed a couple guys to step up after losing Brad and Windy. He has done a pretty good job so far.”
Moore had made an immediate impact as a freshman for Lakewood, and he has been thrust into the ace role after the loss of junior Carter Davis to a knee injury. Davis hopes to return later this month.
Five of the runs Watkins scored against Moore were unearned as he allowed just four hits. He and Riley had two hits apiece, and sophomore Ashton Tackett added an RBI single for the Lancers.
“[Moore] is one of our main guys again this year. He pitched a pretty good game, and we didn’t play very good defense behind him,” Lakewood coach Chuck Davis said. “We have to make plays. It’s that simple.”
Senior Ben Coffman and Jax Dotson combined to score five runs for Watkins, and junior T.J. Griffith, who has jumped into the No. 3 spot in the order, added a hit and an RBI. The Warriors finished in fourth place – four games behind champion Licking Valley – in the LCL-Buckeye Division last season.
“We have our eyes set on districts, bare minimum,” Gray said. “This team has more chemistry than any team I have ever played with before, so I think that’s going to take us pretty far.”
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Watkins Memorial looking to move back into baseball elite
Reporting by Kurt Snyder, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
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