High school baseball: Hot start carries Avon Lake against Brookside at Summer Classic

AVON LAKE — A fast start in the first inning by Avon Lake on Wednesday provided all the support the Shoremen during a 9-2 victory over Brookside during the second round of the Amherst Summer Baseball Classic. Avon Lake and Brookside each looked to turn things around after first-round losses Monday — the Shoremen dropped an 8-5 decision to Avon while the Cardinals lost 12-2 to North Ridgeville. Avon Lake did all its early damage after the first two batters were out, lighting up the Cardinals for four runs with five straight hits. A first-pitch single down the left-field line by first baseman Jacob Perry put the Shoremen's first runner aboard. Third baseman Chase Hamilton followed with a triple to right field to score Perry. Right fielder Tyler Fenton then singled to left to score Hamilton. Fenton then stole second, putting him in scoring position for catcher Avery Evans, who doubled him home. Second baseman Dom Carbone then singled up the middle to score Evans for the fourth run of the inning. "I like how our team battled," second baseman Juewlius Ross said. "Two outs — it's not the ideal situation — but the team came back and battled. Five hits in a row, that's great teamwork. We battled through adversity." Avon Lake hosts North Ridgeville at 5:30 p.m. today to conclude pool play. The winner of the match-up most likely plays Avon for the championship Saturday. Brookside takes on Avon at 5:30 p.m. today at Elyria. "Honestly, just playing good defense is huge," Ross said. "Good defense wins games. If you can't defend you don't have anything going on." Avon Lake didn't rest on its first-inning laurels. The Shoremen tacked on two runs in the third and fourth innings while adding their ninth and final run in the sixth. Ross reached first safely to lead off the third following an infield pop-up error. After Ross stole second, he advanced to third on a fly ball to right by Perry. Hamilton drove in Ross with a single to left. Fenton's single to left moved Hamilton to third. Hamilton then scored when Brookside pitcher Elliot Dore balked trying to catch Fenton attempting to steal second. Ross and center fielder Gianni Smaldino had RBI singles in the fourth inning for Avon Lake. JJ Bradley scored the Shoremen's final run in the sixth after a throwing error by the second baseman, who was trying to cut down Bradley attempting to score from third on a ground ball by Perry. "It wasn't the ideal situation leading off the game with two outs," Perry said. "You always have to fight through it and find that little spark to get things going. Just add on, keep pushing. Their starting pitcher (Dore) was mostly a fastball guy, but you could tell when the curveball was coming. He threw it in pretty obvious situations. You could see the spin on it so you just had to sit back and take it the other way." Avon Lake pitching was also effective. Bradley and John McDermott split the first four innings while Isaac Huska pitched the final three. Dore's two-run double in the fourth inning off McDermott was the only hit given up by Avon Lake pitching. Bradley, McDermott and Huska combined for six strikeouts while giving up four walks and hitting two batters. "I love this week of baseball because it's getting a chance to see a lot of guys that we might be looking at next year that we really didn't get a chance to see this past spring," Avon Lake coach Kevin Collins said. "Some of those guys really stepped up. Juewlius Ross has had a very good week. Jacob Perry has really swung the bat well. Those guys are going to compete for varsity spots next year, so it's good to see them. "Our pitching was also very good. A lot of guys threw strikes. JJ Bradley started and looked very good. The other two guys (McDermott and Huska) came in and threw strikes. That's kind of what we're looking for, who can we put in in a varsity situation. Those questions are getting answered this week." Brookside coach Travis Baldwin remained positive despite the setback. "I like the fact that we battled throughout the game. Nobody was hanging their heads," Baldwin said. "Avon Lake is a very, very good program, a big program. Kevin's a great coach. Just the fact that we came out and battled and didn't give up is something to look forward to for us. "All three of their kids they threw out on the mound threw some very good stuff. We had a lot of our younger guys out there early that haven't seen this level of pitching. Just to get them used to it and get them some looks at it, it's just valuable experience for them. I'm glad they got to see a kid that's going to get to throw some varsity innings for a big program." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.