Hot Stove baseball: Wellington storms into state finals in Class E

ALLIANCE — Heading into Saturday's Class E (ages 15-18) consolation bracket final, Wellington and Grafton Midview Wolff Brothers knew they world have to play their best to advance to today's state final. Only the Dukes rose to the occasion. Wellington's first five hitters reached base as the Dukes scored six first-inning runs and never looked on their way to a 15-3, five-inning win at Butler Rodman Park. Grafton Midview took two of the three regular-season games between the teams but Dukes pitcher Gabe Toth did his best to shut down Grafton and save his team's pitching staff for the two games they hope to play today. "I had to stay focused," Toth said. "And they weren't hitting the fastball, so I had to sit slider and make sure I was keeping my pitches down the middle." Toth wasn't only just a star on the mound, he was also the catalyst on offense, going 3-for-5 with a double and triple from the leadoff spot. The Dukes top four hitters — Toth, Gino Vazquez, Brady Irwin and Gavin Wacker, combined four eight hits and nine runs and reached base 14 times. "Those big innings made everyone wake up," Irwin said. "Everybody was positive in the dugout and just kept hitting." Grafton Midview tried to claw its way back with a run in the first and another in the second, but Wellington put the game out of reach with a seven-run third. Vazquez and Irwin each scored three runs for the Dukes, who will face Cloverleaf in the finals of the double-elimination tournament at 11 a.m. If Wellington is successful in that game, it will play the Colts again in a 3 p.m. winner-take-all championship. "I can't say this win means the world because we're not done yet. There's still a lot more we have to finish," Vazquez said. "Usually, when we come in the first inning like we did today, we always keep our feet on the gas. (Today) we have to be patient again and jump on the first-pitch fastball when we see a good one." Wellington took advantage of 14 walks. The Dukes beat Cloverleaf in the regular season but the Colts returned the favor in the opening round of the state tournament, defeating Wellington, 4-3, and forcing the Dukes into the consolation bracket. "The first inning was crucial for us. If we keep coming out like that, we're going to take this whole thing," Wellington coach Brian Irwin said. "We're tight on pitching right now but Gabe really came through and locked it down for us. "I told the guys before the game, 'Just come and play the way we've played the entire tournament.'" In three postseason games, Wellington has allowed an average of four runs. Luke Hendershot, Jake Derringer and Brendan Cleary scored the three Grafton Midview runs. The Dukes are looking to be the first Wellington team to win a Hot Stove state title since 2019, when the community had winners in Class H (ages 9-10) and Class G (ages 11-12). Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.