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Steubenville Big Red gets ready for baseball regional championship

STEUBENVILLE — Fred Heatherington has been around high school baseball long enough to know there are no “gimmes” in the Sweet 16.

“Everyone in the regionals is going to be good, no matter where you are,” Heatherington, who’s in his 29th year as Big Red’s head coach, said earlier this week as he watched his team taking batting practice.

Steubenville, 26-4, will begin its quest for a second straight Division II regional championship when it meets Indian Valley Thursday inside Zanesville’s Gant Municipal Stadium. The first pitch is set for 5 p.m.

In the other half of the Athens/Zanesville Regional, Marietta and Athens will square off on the campus of Ohio University. The two winners will meet at 5 p.m. Friday for a berth in the D-II final four.

Indian Valley, 17-9, dropped a 5-2 decision to Big Red in the 2016 district championship. Steubenville then downed New Philadelphia and Athens to earn the program’s sixth regional title. In the state semifinals, Big Red dropped a 6-1 verdict to eventual Ohio champion Defiance.

“When we played them in the districts last year, they were a pretty young team,” Heatherington noted when discussing Thursday’s opponent. “They had some freshmen playing so they now have four or five sophomores in the starting lineup.

“Indian Valley is well coached. They do the fundamentals well. They’re strong when it comes to bunting, stealing and executing the hit and run. Their pitchers will be around the plate and they’re solid defensively. They’re just an all-around good team.”

On their way to a district crown, the Braves earned 1-0 victories over St. Clairsville and River View before topping Meadowbrook 6-4. All of Big Red’s postseason victories have come via the mercy rule–10-0 over East Liverpool, 11-1 over Beaver Local and 12-2 over Cambridge.

Heatherington said after two extended practices Monday and Tuesday, Big Red will “focus on hitting Wednesday then get ready to go.”

“Our kids really get after it in practice,” he continued. “Even during batting practice, our infielders and outfielders get after the balls. We have some fun, but we get some work in also.

“We talk a little before practice each day about being the best you can be, then they just get after it. I kind of just sit back. It’s fun to sit back and watch your guys work.”

As a team, Big Red is sporting a .353 batting average. Senior Michael Pierro, a West Liberty commit, leads the way with his .474 average. Junior third baseman Johnny Agresta is hitting .433 while senior center ielder Nick Scott checks in at .422 He leads the team with 39 RBIs. Agresta has driven home 36 runs and M. Pierro 33.

Speedy junior Alec Taylor, who patrols left field, has a .419 average for Heatherington’s club. Senior catcher Mitchell Gulan is batting .333 and junior shortstop Gino Pierro .301.

Big Red’s pitching staff, led by senior Nicky Zorne, sports an ERA of 1.88. The left-handed Zorne is 8-0 with an ERA of 1.20. He has 62 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings of work. M. Pierro is 4-1 with an ERA of 1.37 and freshman Calvin Bickerstaff is 5-3 with a 1.44 ERA.

Junior Ryan Neely is 4-0; senior Ryan Bernard, who also is heading to West Liberty, 3-0; and junior Mason Rubish 2-0.

“We’re happy to be where we are but we still have some work to do,” the Big Red coach stressed. “It’s going to be a tough regional and we have to be ready to play. We want our kids to be relaxed and have some fun. Hopefully, we can have some success.”

In the final Ohio coaches’ association poll, Big Red was ranked seventh. Marietta was fourth and Athens 19th. The Tigers have won 15 straight and sport a 24-3 record. Athens is 23-3.

“We’ll have two coaches going to the game in Athens,” Heatherington pointed out. “It’s nice if you can see possible future opponents yourself, but that’s not going to be the case. We’ll do what we have to do and hopefully take care of our business.

Athens has some guys back from the team we beat in the regionals last year. Marietta has been ranked in the top 10 of the state all year. Both teams are having good years.”

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