Thursday, May 31, 2001
Hamilton baseball team faces experienced foe
Dublin Coffman has reached final 8 in last 3 seasons
By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor
Hamilton catcher and team co-captain Dustin Pearson said he doesn't know much about the Dublin Coffman team the Big Blue will face in this morning's Division I state semifinals.
“I'd never really heard of them,” Pearson said. “I'd heard of the other Dublin school (Scioto), but this is the first time I've ever heard of their school name. I know now that they were there last year.”
The Shamrocks, in fact, have reached the state's final eight each of the last three seasons. They lost in the region final two years ago and in the semifinals last season.
Hamilton (26-7), which is seeking its third state championship and making its fifth appearance in the state semifinals, and Dublin Coffman (24-7) are scheduled to play at 10a.m. today at Cooper Stadium in Columbus. The winner will meet either Youngstown Boardman (24-5) or Maumee (20-10) for the state championship at 10a.m. Saturday.
Big Blue coach Dan Bowling expects Dublin Coffman coach Tim Saunders to start senior left-hander Travis Thomas.
“He's a finesse kid,” Bowling said.
“Their other kid (junior Brock Hunton) is more of a power pitcher.”
Hunton's older brother, Bart, is Coffman's leader. He homered and drove in two runs in Coffman's regional semifinal win. Baseball America ranks the senior catcher, who has accepted a scholarship to Clemson, sixth among Ohio players — high school and college — who are eligible for professional baseball's annual amateur draft June 5.
“It's always a good challenge for somebody to see someone else at your own position and go head to head against them,” said Pearson, who plans to continue his career at Miami. “It will be interesting to see how we do against each other.”
Bowling suggested the semifinal could be a low-scoring affair.
“Their team batting average is only about .299,” Bowling said. “In high school play, that's not a great average. Ours is .349, and that's not great either.”
Bowling said this year's state tournament is an indication of the balance in Ohio baseball. None of the four teams still alive in the tournament finished the season ranked in the Associated Press Top 10.
Toledo Start, the team that beat Coffman in the semifinals en route to winning last year's Division I championship, was ousted in the first round of this year's sectional tournament.
“There are no clear-cut great teams,” Bowling said. “We played a lot of teams this year, and there wasn't anybody who scared us to death.
“We played Vandalia Butler when they were ranked in the top five, and I remember thinking, "They would finish about in the middle of our league (Greater Miami Conference).'”
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