Thursday, June 03, 1999
Elder faces resourceful foe
Toledo St. Francis overcame loss of key pitchers
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
Sometimes a team can't explain in words how it has reached glory. Elder's opponent in today's Division I state semifinal, Toledo St. Francis, falls under that heading.
Coming into today's 3 p.m. game at Canton's Thurman Munson Stadium, St. Francis (26-4) is in the practice of finding ways to win. “We've really had some key kids step up and perform. Really, it's been everyone playing above their ability at points throughout the tournament,” said St. Francis coach Don Kober.
It's had to have been that way, due to the pitching adversity St. Francis has had to overcome.
St. Francis' best player was pitcher Ryan Kurtz, an overpowering left-hander who signed to play baseball at Michigan State. But Kurtz broke down during the season with a mysterious ailment that left him with blood clots in his shoulder. He has since undergone surgery and faces a long road back to pitching.
Compounding the problem is that St. Francis' No.2 pitcher, Mike Valerius, was already unavailable for pitching duty because of arm problems that developed last year. (Valerius still lines up at shortstop, where his .472 batting average and excellent fielding skills have been major assets).
Most teams would have written off any tournament hopes without their top two arms. St. Francis, benefitting from 10 seniors on its roster, has found ways to stick it out.
“We've been able to hit the ball all year,” said Kober, whose team owns a .414 team batting average. “A couple of times in the tournament we've put (a lot of) runs up, and we've been especially good if we've been able to get deep into a team's pitching staff.”
Elder coach Mark Thompson is unsure if his 25-6 team will start senior left-hander Alex Morano (9-1) or senior right-hander David Hummel (7-3) against St. Francis. He'll hold back his strongest pitcher, junior Dan Bachman, for relief duty.
St. Francis will go with its best pitcher, right-hander Mel Stachura, who is 9-3 this year with a 2.74 ERA.
Besides Valerius, the other top name for Elder to watch out for in the middle of the St. Francis lineup is left fielder Dave Peer. He hit .543 this year, with seven home runs and 40 RBI. Out of his total of 50 hits this year, 25 have been for extra bases.
After a 20-6 year last year and a loss in the district finals, St. Francis is headed back to state for only the second time in school history — the first time was 1974, when Kober was in his first year as coach. “We have high expectations, but it's a lot like Cincinnati up here, it's very hard to get out of district. We've had good teams, but that's been our m.o. the last 10 years,” he said.
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