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Toronto’s baseball squad to meet familiar foe

TORONTO — Ohio’s Division IV poll champions will meet a somewhat familiar foe when regional tournament play begins Thursday in Lancaster.

Toronto’s 25-3 Red Knights, winners of the Eastern District championship, are again matched with Danville, the Central 1 District survivor, in the Sweet 16. Thursday’s first pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Beavers Field.

In 2016, the Red Knights beat Danville 9-0 before dropping a heartbreaking 4-1, 10-inning decision to Newark Catholic, which went on to grab the state title.

“We’re a little familiar with them from playing them last year and they, of course, are going to be familiar with us,” veteran Toronto coach Brian Perkins said earlier this week. “I look for them to show up and give us their best.

“We’re expecting a heck of a game. Danville really got hot through the tournament and it looks like they are playing their best baseball right now.”

The Blue Devils are 16-7-1 and entered district play as the No. 5 seed. Danville beat Columbus Wellington 4-3 in the sectional finale. Next came a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Lancaster Fisher Catholic in the district semifinals. The Devils whipped Tree of Life Christian Academy 8-3 in the district finale.

Toronto grabbed its 23rd consecutive sectional championship with a 9-2 victory over Bridgeport. In the districts, Perkins’ squad topped Shadyside 10-4 and Strasburg 3-2.

The other Lancaster semifinal has Waterford, 22-5, taking on South Webster. Thursday’s winners will battle for a state final four berth at 5 p.m. Friday.

“We have some guys out today looking at some of the teams in the regional,” Perkins noted. “Any time you get to the regional, everyone is going to be good.

“It’s going to come down to who playing their best ball, who gets a break here and there and who creates breaks. Hopefully, we can do that.”

Perkins pointed out 2017 marks the first time Toronto “won’t have to face Newark Catholic in the regionals.”

“They (the Green Wave) went into a different region this year,” he added. “The Central District has two brackets, one winner going to Lancaster and the other to Springfield. They decided to go into the Springfield bracket. We won’t seem them until the state finals if we are both fortunate enough to make it that far.”

Newark Catholic will play Lewisburg Tri-County North in the regional semifinals.

In recording 25 wins, Toronto has put together solid efforts at the plate and on the mound.

As a team, the Red Knights are hitting .390. Junior Nolan Clegg, who has verbally committed to play at Ohio State University, leads Toronto with his .487 batting average. Senior Danny Zdinak, who has signed to play baseball at Ashland University, is hitting .455.

Perkins’ pitching staff is sporting an ERA of 1.79.

Zdinak is 7-2 with an ERA of 2.30. Clegg has won three of his four starts, recorded two saves and boasts an ERA of .087. Sophomore Nate Karaffa, who also given OSU a verbal commitment, is 6-0 with an ERA of 2.23.

Senior Sante Carducci, who will continue his baseball career at Thiel, is 5-0 with a sparkling ERA of .073.

Carducci, Zdinak and Dakota Swearingen are the only three seniors on the Toronto roster.

“We have three seniors and they are all great leaders,” Perkins pointed out. “We were really young to start the season but I guess that’s over with us being 28 games into it. We threw our kids into situations this season where they were really tested.

“We put them into tough competition from the start. We did that with an eye on the tournament down the road. We think our strategy is paying off and we certainly hope it benefits us once we get to Lancaster.”

During the regular season, Toronto went up against Berlin Hiland, the No. 1 ranked Ohio Division III squad, as well as Division I Boardman. On Monday, Toronto hosted Canfield, a Division II regional qualifier, and emerged with a 6-5 victory.

“It was a nice win against a very, very good Division II team,” Perkins noted. “It was a nice way for us to head into the regional.”

From a travel standpoint, Perkins said his club will follow the same schedule it did in 2016.

“We’ll get a good practice in here on Wednesday, then head to Lancaster,” he said. “We’ll stay overnight, just like we did last year, get up and be ready to go.”

Toronto last won a state baseball championship in 1998. The Red Knights have been poll kings seven times–1999, 2000, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2016 and 2017.

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