Lutheran West starting pitcher Justin Chislow fires one home in his complete game effort against Buckeye last Wednesday in a Patriot Athletic Conference crossover game. Chislow and the Longhorns prevailed, 6-2. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Longhorns stampede to top of PAC
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published May 6, 2009

Last year, the Lutheran West baseball team made great strides in winning the Stripes Division of the Patriot Athletic Conference and advancing to the Division III district semifinals.

This spring, the Longhorns have picked up where they left off.

And, they’re looking for more.

Last week, West started off the week with an impressive 6-3 win over Stars Division rival Keystone. The Longhorns followed that up with another victory over a Stars Division foe, a 6-2 decision over Buckeye on Wednesday.

Although their game with Brookside was rained out later in the week, head coach Dave Sellke’s squad had moved to 13-2 overall and a sparkling 7-0 in the PAC. Last Sunday, the Longhorns received the second seed behind Independence in the upcoming Division III Sectional/District Tournament.

“We went into the tournament draw with the same record,” said Sellke of getting the No. 2 spot. “Independence is ranked third in the state, though, so that’s probably why they got the first seed.

“That’s alright, because our players have accepted the challenges they’ve faced all season to this point,” said Sellke. “We knew coming into this spring that we weren’t going to sneak up on anybody because of what we accomplished last year.”

The Longhorns’ only losses this season were to Garfield Heights during their spring trip to Tennessee and a second-game defeat at the hands of Cleveland Central Catholic in a doubleheader. Other than that, it has been a combination of defense, pitching and – since the spring trip – hitting that has the ‘Horns poised to make a tournament run.

“Especially early on, it seemed like we were playing good defense and getting the good pitching to go with it,” said Sellke, who has solid starting pitchers in juniors Cal Thomay (4-0, 1.38 ERA), junior Justin Chislow (3-0, 0.33 ERA), Billy Valletto (3-1, 1.33 ERA) and Rodney Bassett (3-1, 2.86 ERA).

“Our bats finally started to come around during our spring trip,” said Sellke. “I think getting to play in some warmer weather really helped us. I think that also gave us an advantage against our opponents once we got back home, especially against teams that weren’t able to get away from the colder weather.”

Thanks to an RBI single from teammate Justin Chislow, Lutheran West’s Bill Valletto rounds third and heads for home during the second inning of last Wednesday’s PAC game with Buckeye. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Mike Holick, yet another junior, leads the team in batting average at a robust .489, while Chislow is right behind at .424. Thomay is at .356, while junior catcher Zach Hausmann is batting .323. Caleb O’Hara rounds out the .300-plus club at .310.

Leading the team in runs batted in, however, is Ryan Jones. Jones, also a junior, is batting just .286, but has knocked in 18 runs and has three home runs so far this season. Thomay has driven in 12 runs and Chislow nine, while Holick leads the team in doubles (seven), triples (five) and stolen bases (18).

Last year, Sellke’s first with the squad, the Longhorns finished 19-7 overall and were 11-2 in the PAC. West has already defeated Wellington, Keystone and Buckeye from the Stars Division, as well as all the teams in the Stripes Division so far this season.

A game with Black River this past Monday and a makeup game with Brookside, probably this Friday, will complete the Stars Division portion of the Longhorns’ schedule. But Sellke knows there are more big games coming up after that.

“Before the season, I was worried a bit that teams would be definitely more ready to play us because of last year,” said Sellke. “We knew we’d have to play hard each and every game because of that, and so far we’ve fared pretty well.

“We know there are some big games still ahead of us in order to win the conference and do well in the tournament. We lost to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in last year’s tournament, so we’d like to go a bit further this year. That’s been one of our main goals,” he said.

If last week was any indication, the Longhorns may be able to do just that. They’ll open sectional play against PAC foe Brooklyn on May 12. With a win, they would advance to the sectional championship game against the winner of Wellington and Clearview.

Last week against Keystone, West rallied from a 3-1 deficit with a five-run sixth inning. O’Hara drove in the first run in the rally with a single up the middle, while three consecutive hits from Holick, Chislow and Thomay after the ‘Horns had loaded the bases drove in four more runs.

On the mound, Thomay picked up the win with five innings of work, while Chislow came in after the rally to earn the two-inning save. It was his second save of the season.

Lutheran West had a totally different game offensively against Buckeye. A sacrifice fly by Jones and an RBI single by Hausmann gave the ‘Horns a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning for a lead they never relinquished.

Holick wound up with a pair of doubles and two runs scored to pace the offense, while Chislow went the distance on the mound. He walked just one while striking out four Bucks.

As in any season, there have been some surprises along the way that have been a big help to the Longhorns’ cause, according to Sellke.

“I’d have to say the biggest surprise has been Valletto,” said Sellke. “He was second team PAC as a catcher last year, but this year he’s been contributing more on the mound for us. A big part of that is Hausmann, who has been able to spell him behind the plate.

“Having Valletto on the mound helps fill a void after we graduated some pitching last year,” said Sellke. “And Bassett is a kid who played junior varsity last year, but has stepped up this season to win some big games for us. That helps take the pressure off Thomay and Chislow.”

That pitching depth, said Sellke, will come in handy when the tournament games begin.

Meanwhile, Lutheran West will concentrate on the regular season this week. Tomorrow, the Longhorns travel to Brooklyn, with the tentatively scheduled makeup game at Brookside probably being played Friday.

Saturday, the Longhorns will host Cleveland Rhodes in a doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m.