Lucas Tinter, Josh Stalnaker lead Twinsburg past Dover in OHSAA baseball district final
Four seniors and two juniors delivered in clutch moments for the Twinsburg baseball team on Thursday in a Division I district final at Mentor High School.
Junior Lucas Tinter pitched a shutout, junior Bobby Lemieux played small ball and seniors Jaden Dye, Jack Phillips, Josh Stalnaker and Kris Kimmel contributed big hits to lead Twinsburg to a 3-0 win over Dover.
Twinsburg (21-5) won its first district championship since 2006 when the Tigers were Division I state semifinalist. Twinsburg was also a Class AA state semifinalist in 1990. Retired coach Donald R. Jones guided both teams.
"They never quit," Twinsburg coach Jim Lipinski said of his players. "They always believe in themselves. We have talked about the word confidence since I stepped up to take the coaching job. I just told them that this game is all built on confidence, and that is one thing our kids have. They are confident. They want to be the guy that gets it done. There is no quit in them. It is all fight. All the time in the dugout you hear, 'Let's get it going. Let's get it going.'
"You gotta look at some of our games and some of our scores. I said this on Tuesday — we are getting help from up above. There is no question about it. Coach [Jeff] Luca is giving us the help. We have had quite a few comeback wins and are scoring runs late in games to secure wins. This really is a special season."
Luca died in a car accident in December. He was Twinsburg's baseball coach for four seasons.
Twinsburg scored its three runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run triple by Stalnaker and a RBI single by Kimmel. Dye led off the inning with a single, Lemieux laid down a sacrifice bunt and Phillips singled ahead of Stalnaker and Kimmel.
"Four seniors got it done in the sixth inning, all four of them with a hit," Lipinski said. "The way they pull for each other is fantastic. The camaraderie in the dugout is unmatched with how they get along with one another, how they challenge each other and how they compete with one another. That is what brings our juniors along. I love our senior leadership."
Twinsburg advanced to meet Wooster in a Division I regional semifinal at 2 p.m. Thursday at Oberlin College. Wooster beat St. Ignatius 7-2 Thursday. The Generals have won two district finals in a row over the Wildcats. North Canton Hoover (19-8) and Jackson (22-7) will meet in the second game Thursday at Oberlin College.
"We knew going into this game with Dover that it was going to be tough," Stalnaker said. "We had a great game against Hoban in a district semifinal. I think that really gave us fuel and showed us that we can beat anybody if we play a solid team game. Lucas Tinter did an amazing job on the mound for us and kept us in it the whole game.
"We started off a little bit slow with the bats in this game. Their pitcher [Colin Bruno] was doing well and kept us off balance. The sixth inning rolled around and Jaden Dye led us off with a single, Bobby Lemieux had a sacrifice bunt, Jack Phillips hit a single and then I came up and had a big hit."
Stalnaker (6-1) pitched six innings in a 7-5 victory over Hoban on Tuesday. He allowed five runs, earned the win with 12 strikeouts and hit a double, walked and had three RBIs.
Tinter (5-1) shut out Dover with five strikeouts and limited the Tornadoes to three hits, three walks and one hit batter. He throws "a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, slider, 12-6 curveball and change-up."
"My two-seam fastball had a lot of run today and the slider was working really well and keeping them off balance," Tinter said. "... This whole season is dedicated to coach Luca and the legacy he left behind. I am grateful that coach Lip was able to come in, step up, rise to the occasion and guide us on our journey this season so far. This is the best season I have been a part of."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Twinsburg tops Dover to win OHSAA baseball district championship
