#1 vs #2 Battle of Hilliard tonight.

[Cthelites]

The top 2 teams in the Central District go at it tonight with city bragging rights on the line. Who will win? Should be a good one as both squads only have one loss each!

I'll predict Darby in a squeeker 5-4.

[tatertot]

Good Luck to both teams and coaches! They are both very good coaches and deserve the credit they receive.:)

[BGFalcons86]

Good Luck to both teams. I'm pulling for Darby, though. That being said, it would be nice to see both snag a district title.

[BGFalcons86]

Hilliard Darby 9, Hilliard Davidson 7

[Cthelites]

Wow, what a game!
Had to leave early because of practice tonight. It was 6-1 Darby when we left in the third. Glad to see Davidson came back to make a game out of it.
Go HD!

[peng]

Well, the two are still 1 and 2 in DI in the Columbus Dispatch coaches local poll -- look forward to seeing some great ball out of both all year!

[centralD1]

Too bad these are not league games. I'm sure both teams want to win, but not as important as making sure you have proper pitchers available to win your league. It would be nice to see them meet in the tournament with everything on the line.

[peng]

Rematch coming 5 pm

http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dave_herd/batter-up----central-ohio-hs-baseball.shtml

new column started on columbussports.com, there'll be more

[FormerWildcat]

Rematch coming 5 pm

http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dave_herd/batter-up----central-ohio-hs-baseball.shtml

new column started on columbussports.com, there'll be more
Well, what was the score?

[centralD1]

Davidson won 5-1. According to the box score, a senior non starter Winter went the whole way. That means their number one and two have not even thrown yet this week. They have Arlington at home tonight and on the road at Thomas Worthington Friday. If they can get something decent out of those two guys, they should end the week in good shape to stay up there in the State coaches poll.

[peng]

The pitcher is Dan Winter and he pitched a complete game. He's done well earlier in the year too.

http://www.columbussports.com/content/hotNews/batter-up----central-ohio-hs-baseball.shtml

[BuckeyeBebe]

Winter wasn't available early in the season, just available last week. League game tonight v. Upper Arlington. Tyler Backstrom is probably the starter tonight. You may be thinking of Rob Tiefenthaler.

Tako Kawakami started in Monday league game v. Grove City.

[peng]

You are probably right about my confusioin. What a great team. I'm from UA but couldn't make the game to write about it first hand because of the obligations of my REAL job . . . I'll make some acalls tonight and get the details though

[peng]

Winter wasn't available early in the season, just available last week. League game tonight v. Upper Arlington. Tyler Backstrom is probably the starter tonight. You may be thinking of Rob Tiefenthaler.

Tako Kawakami started in Monday league game v. Grove City.

Tiefenthaler came for Backstrom, I believe, and got the win over UA yesterday

wish I'd been able to go as I used to live in the Davidson school district and now live in UA

[centralD1]

Arlington beat Darby last night 4-3. UA is a much better team than their record may indicate.

[peng]

Arlington beat Darby last night 4-3. UA is a much better team than their record may indicate.

I couldn't help but notice that -- great win for UA

http://columbussports.com

[BGFalcons86]

After Friday night's games, Darby and Davidson were both 15-3.

Darby's losses: Davidson, Worthington Kilbourne, Upper Arlington
Davidson's losses: Darby, Thomas Worthington, Westerville North

[Cthelites]

Arlington beat Darby last night 4-3. UA is a much better team than their record may indicate.

I heard Darby sat a lot of their regulars for that game.

[BuckeyeBebe]

UA is better than their record, but since it was a non-league game Darby possibly could have sat a few. UA has a good hitting team, but not very deep in the pitching category.

Peng--you moved to the dark side?

[FormerWildcat]

I used to live in the Davidson school district and now live in UA
That is unforgiveable. ;) Anyway, UA is now 6-10 on the season with their loss to Dublin Coffman yesterday. I'm not accustomed to seeing that from the Golden Bears.

BTW, is ColumbusSports.com associated with the Columbus Sports Network? CSN needs to find a way to get onto DirecTV or Dish Network.

Also is there a website where you can go to find out the daily schedules across Columbus? It's really irritating that the Dispatch doesn't print a schedule of games to be played each day; they only print the boxscores from the games the previous day.

I was in Columbus over the weekend, and had some free time on Sunday afternoon. It would have been handy to know which games were going on, but it's really difficult to find that info. Going to highschoolsports.net and looking up the schedules for each school individually is really cumbersome.

[BuckeyeBebe]

I was in Columbus over the weekend, and had some free time on Sunday afternoon. It would have been handy to know which games were going on, but it's really difficult to find that info. Going to highschoolsports.net and looking up the schedules for each school individually is really cumbersome.Actually, this is one thing that the OCC website has listed! They do have the league games...hope you are back and can see one! The link says baseball 05-06, but is this spring. http://ohiocapitalconference.com/schedulebaseball0506.htm

[FormerWildcat]

Actually, this is one thing that the OCC website has listed! They do have the league games...hope you are back and can see one! The link says baseball 05-06, but is this spring. http://ohiocapitalconference.com/schedulebaseball0506.htm
Thanks! That is somewhat more helpful, but because they only list the league games, it doesn't list any weekend games, since those are non-league games.

[Cthelites]

Do you think Zville has a shot at the Cen Dist #1 seed over HD or HD?

[peng]

That is unforgiveable. ;)
BTW, is ColumbusSports.com associated with the Columbus Sports Network? CSN needs to find a way to get onto DirecTV or Dish Network.



Columbussports.com is not affiliated with Columbus Sports Network. CSN is doing a good job and I applaud them -- I tune in from time to time. Columbussports.com is an arena for central Ohio fans to turn to for news and a forum on the web. I've been trying to provide a perspective for HS sports this past year and have a Reds blog as well. I'll update the articles in a day or two -- I had to go out of town for a funeral. Still, I have to practice law as well . . .


Yeh, I heard Darby sat a few starters against UA, still it's a win.

http://www.columbussports.com/

[centralD1]

Another loss for Darby last night. This time against Gahanna. Probably not good timing for them going into Sunday's tournament seeding. However, as long as they have their ace available to throw, they will be in every game.
Davidson beat Coffman (for the third time) last night giving them at least a share of the OCC Buckeye. One more win in their final two league games and they win the title outright.

[BGFalcons86]

Another loss for Darby last night. This time against Gahanna. Probably not good timing for them going into Sunday's tournament seeding. However, as long as they have their ace available to throw, they will be in every game.
Davidson beat Coffman (for the third time) last night giving them at least a share of the OCC Buckeye. One more win in their final two league games and they win the title outright.

Agreed. Not good timing. At 16-4, I'd guess Darby is looking at somewhere between a #2 and #4 seed. It's the first loss in the OCC, but I think Groveport is only 1 game back.

With only 3 losses (18-3 record, I think) and a schedule packed with D1 teams, Davidson should get the #1 seed. Zanesville has the best record, but it doesn't seem their schedule matches up to Davidson's or Darby's. Kilbourne should be up there, too. Guess we'll see soon.

I'm hoping Davidson and Darby end up in different districts. It would be nice to see two district titles. It certainly is possible. In the meantime, the Darby softball team is looking good, too. Could be a good spring in Hilliard!

[Cthelites]

I think Davidson will get the #1 and Darby should get #2 if they win out. They've both been at the top all year and split with each other.
I hope it does happen with separate district titles. That would be awesome!
The Darby softball team is real strong. Both track programs are strong programs not to mention both Vball programs are state ranked, Darby's #4 I think.

What a great past couple of years it's been for Hilliards!
Keep it rolling!

[FormerWildcat]

Davidson beat Coffman (for the third time) last night
I never getting tired of reading news about Davidson beating Coffman. :)

[Cthelites]

I never getting tired of reading news about Davidson beating Coffman.


That's funny!



Where does the standings stand in Central District?

[centralD1]

Well Former Wildcat, if you like reading about Coffman losing to Davidson. Here is a news story for you from the SNP.


It's official: The baseball crown will remain in the land of Hilliard Davidson.

In that regard, the Wildcats assured themselves of at least a share of a second consecutive Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division championship with a patented one-run victory Wednesday, April 30.

Dublin Coffman didn't slink away quietly into the night, but the visitors from Davidson clung to a 5-4 final verdict.

"It's a big win and it's a win against Coffman, which is always good," 'Cats winning pitcher Dan Winter said.




"We just clinched a share of the OCC, which is always big."

It was the third time this season Davidson (18-3, 7-1) bettered the Shamrocks (11-7, 5-3) by a run.

Though Coffman's four-run sixth inning made matters dicey for HDHS, Tyler Backstrom sealed the outcome by hurling two innings of relief, including a scoreless seventh.

"A loss is a loss," Coffman coach Tim Saunders said. "When your back is to the wall, you've got to compete.

"It was a typical game for us: We watch too many pitches, we don't swing the bat, when we do we don't swing it hard. We play defensively. We actually lost the game in the first inning."

To that end, home plate was a turnstile of sorts for Davidson in the first frame, as three runners crossed the plate -- two on an infield throwing error.

Matt Rine's RBI groundout in the second inning and Nick VanDyne's RBI double in the fifth pushed the margin to 5-0 and tagged Neal Smith with the loss. Smith finished the evening with a 4-3 record and 1.95 ERA.

"We're happy with the league win, we're always happy winning a league game," HDHS coach Jim Dougherty said.

"Everybody gives it their best shot, the intensity perks up a little bit."

From the home dugout, Saunders said he respected the Wildcats' cuts at the dish.

"There was nothing Neal threw today that fooled them," Saunders assessed. "They took great swings at curveballs and they took great swings throughout this game. Even the foul balls they missed, they were right on it."

However, the 'Rocks threw their hats into the ring with three hits and four runs in the home half of the sixth.

Victor Migliore drew a bases-loaded walk, another run scored on a wild pitch, Kyle Frazier collected an RBI with a groundout and Smith scorched an RBI double to deep left.

The trick and the challenge for DCHS is to bottle that aggressiveness.

"Our hitters were basically taking one swing per at-bat," Saunders said of the first five innings. "But they showed a little fire in the end.

"There's some potential there. We've got to do it for seven innings."

Davidson, ranked No. 3 in the April 29 Division I state poll, was assertive as ever on the base paths. In the fifth, when Ohio State recruit Joey Ciamacco stole second immediately after five consecutive pickoff tosses to first base, it typified Dougherty's green-light philosophy.

He said he rarely flashes a steal sign, instead trusting his players' instincts and knowledge of the game.

"We think we've got a little bit of speed and we've got kids that know how to run the bases a little bit," Dougherty said. "There are times, depending on the team we're playing and the pitcher we're facing, we might give you an out --- we may bunt a runner across. But if we don't have to give up an out, we'd much rather take the base without giving up an out."

It's a style that applies pressure on opposing defenses and Dougherty hopes will net HDHS its first Central District title since 2004.

On the flipside, the Shamrocks also could prove a difficult postseason draw for any adversary. With a top of the rotation of Smith and Neil Bittel (5-0, 0.88 ERA), it may only take a few runs to chart a course through May.

"I still think we can be a regional final team," Saunders said. "We've got two good pitchers and we've got some other guys that can help out.

"We've got good athletes in the field, a combination of some speed and some bats. We take great (batting practice) when the pressure isn't on. Now we've got to put it in the game, that's where it counts."

"It's a big win and it's a win against Coffman, which is

always good."

--Dan Winter

[BGFalcons86]

Davidson (18-3) and Darby (17-4) took the top 2 seeds in the district.

[BGFalcons86]

Darby (18-4) has clinched the OCC Ohio outright and Davidson (18-4) has clinched at least a share of the OCC Buckeye. Good Luck to both teams in the tournament. Go Panthers!