Hot Stove baseball: Sheffield rallies for win in Class F opener after Lorain loses top player to injury

SHEFFIELD LAKE — Baseball is a team sport, but sometimes one player can make the difference between winning and losing. Lorain's Ezequiel Melendez-Dieppa had his Titans rolling early Saturday, leading by four runs after three innings, but in the fourth after his third hit, Melendez-Dieppa was injured on a play at the plate and that was the turning point as Sheffield took over from there. The Venom came storming all the way back for a 15-8 win in a Hot Stove Class F (ages 13-14) regional quarterfinal at Volunteer Field. Twelfth-seeded Sheffield (11-5) advances to today's semifinals to face the third-seeded Amherst Comets at Palmer Field at noon. Melendez-Dieppa not only was dominant at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs before getting hurt, he showed off a devastating curveball, striking out seven while walking just a pair. "He (Melendez-Dieppa) was easily the best pitcher we've faced all year," Sheffield coach Tony Centifanti said. "It's really a shame that he got hurt, but our guys were able to make adjustments against the new pitchers that came into the game." Before the injury, the Titans were able to score all eight of their runs against Venom starter Ethan Selfridge and reliever Xavier Centifanti, who both had trouble finding the plate, walking seven batters between them. Lorain's big inning came in the second when it scored six times. Isaiah Berrios singled in one run, Alessandro Andino sent home two with a base hit to the left side of the infield and Melendez-Dieppa drove home a run with a base hit. Melendez-Dieppa left the game in the fourth inning after trying to avoid a tag while attempting to score on a wild pitch. Sheffield put up a seven-spot in the bottom of the fourth, sending 12 batters to the plate. Damon Brutout drove in a pair with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. After an error and a pair of walks, Gavyn Clark provided a huge hit, driving in all three runners with a double to the gap in left center. "We were finally able to turn it around when (Melendez-Dieppa) left the mound," Clark said. "It all came back for us in that inning, and I'm glad I was able to get ahold of one and get those runs home. That felt really good." After the struggle to find the plate early, Janno DeLeon came on for the Venom in the bottom of the third with two on and proceeded to get three strikeouts. DeLeon kept the Titans off the board for the final four innings with at least a pair of strikeouts in every inning. "I was just trying to throw as hard as I could and keep the ball around the plate and in the strike zone," DeLeon said. "We were down, but the bats got hot, and we were able to pick things back up again." For Titans coach Mike Marrero, it was a frustrating day. "It's a real shame and it shows how much you can count on a player," Marrero said. "You could see it on our faces after he (Melendez-Dieppa) got hurt, we just had to keep playing hard and we just weren't able to keep it going." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.