Dover's run through postseason comes to an end against Twinsburg

MENTOR — Dover’s incredible run through the postseason baseball tournament, which included wins against powerful Chardon and Mentor, came to an end here Thursday evening as the 17th-seeded Crimson Tornadoes fell 3-0 to No. 7 seed Twinsburg in a D1 district title game.

With the setback, the Tornadoes bow out with a 15-12 record but gave their fans quite a postseason ride with a young, talented team that returns seven starters next spring.

“We’ll look back on it and remember a couple of really good wins in the tournament,” Dover head coach Jeff Fondriest said afterward.

With the win, Twinsburg improved its record to 21-5 and will meet the Wooster Generals in a D1 regional semifinal next Thursday at 2 p.m. at Oberlin College’s Dill Field.

More: New Philadelphia's district title streak halted by No. 1 seed St. Clairsville

“We’re looking forward to whoever we compete against next, and we’re excited about it,” said Twinsburg head coach Jim Lipinski. “The last time we were in the district finals (before Thursday) was 2015 and the last time we won it (a district title) was 2006. We won it in 2006, 2004 and 1990.”

Dover junior pitcher Colin Bruno and Twinsburg junior hurler Lucas Tinter hooked up in a classic pitcher’s duel in which both right-handers went the distance.  The game was scoreless through five innings.

Tinter, who posted his fifth win in six outings, fired a three-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks.

“He’s been fantastic all year for us,” said Lipinski of Tinter. “He’s got a low ERA, and he just competes. He goes after guys and doesn’t walk many, and he lets our defense work behind him.”

“Hats off to Twinsburg,” Fondriest said. “Their pitcher shut us down, did a nice job, and we just couldn’t muster any offense today.”

Meanwhile, Bruno absorbed the loss, but deserved a better fate as he tossed a five-hitter with two strikeouts and no walks.

“It was a great pitchers’ duel,” noted Lipinski.

Dover shortstop Ethan Kellicker also played a role in keeping the Tornadoes step-for-step with the Tigers through five innings. The senior made three major league-type plays at shortstop to deny three singles.

“(Kellicker) was fantastic today,” Fondriest said. “He’s a college player for sure, and he showed it today.”

“That’s the one thing, you look at Dover and they fielded the ball like crazy today, that shortstop made plays like crazy,” Twinsburg’s Lipinski said.

Offensively, the Tornadoes had a runner at third base in the fourth inning, another at second in the fifth and runners at first and second in the top of the seventh inning but couldn't get them home.

Leading Dover’s offense on the evening were Jonah Marks, Liam Mast and Aidan Immel who all had singles.

“They (the Tornadoes) are great competitors and a really good team and I was very impressed with their defense and their coach is a class act,” Lipinski said.

With the game scoreless through 5-1/2 innings, the Tigers finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Jayden Dye led off with a single to center and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bobby Lemieux. Jack Phillips reached base on an error, and DH Josh Stalnaker, who had two of the Tigers’ five hits in the game, stepped to the dish and laced a two-RBI triple to right, giving Twinsburg a 2-0 advantage. One batter later, the Tigers made it 3-0 when Chris Kimmel had an RBI single to left.

“Colin (Bruno) was tremendous to go and shut them out for five innings,” Fondriest said. “He just got a couple pitches up there in the sixth inning, but hey, their three-hole hitter (Stalnaker) is a heck of a hitter, and he got one in the gap and that was the ballgame.”

“When you get down to the district and the regional it comes down to pitching and defense,” Lipinski said. “We get a bunt down and then we were able to have that three-run inning.”

Dover mounted its best offensive opportunity in the top of the seventh when Mast walked, and after two outs, Immel walked, putting runners at first and second. But Dover’s rally and season ended on a fly ball out to center.

Fondriest is looking forward to having seven starters returning next season from a district runner-up team with so much potential.

“We lose three seniors, so we’ve got a good nucleus coming back next year, so we’re excited about that, and all of our pitching comes back,” the Dover coach said. “We’ll also be in (Division) III (next year) and we feel good about that, but we’re not feeling good about anything today.”

TWINSBURG 3, DOVER 0

Dover           000   000 0 — 0 3 1

Twinsburg     000   003 X —3 5 1

Colin Bruno (6) and Hunter Edwards. Lucas Tinter and Lane Conway. WP — Lucas Tinter (5-1) . LP — Colin Bruno. 2B — none. 3B — Josh Stalnaker (T). HR — none.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Dover baseball's run ends against Twinsburg in OHSAA playoffs