West baseball begins quest for another state title
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
The road to this year's Division I state baseball title runs through Lakota West.
The Firebirds (18-1) — the defending state champs — earned the No. 1 seed in the Cincinnati 2 sectional at Sunday's tournament draw, and will host either No. 10 Middletown (3-16) or No. 11 Winton Woods (2-14) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14.
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Get latest headlines via RSS feeds"Last year was a great experience," West coach Bill Dreisbach said. "I don't feel the pressure. The team doesn't feel the pressure as much as some people might think. The guys have been playing loose all year. These are big games coming up, but we've been playing in big games all year. We'll put forth the best effort in every game. The ultimate goal is to be at our best when we're playing."
The Firebirds suffered their first loss of the season — an 8-4 setback to Colerain April 30 — after being anointed the No. 1 team in the state. They also are ranked No. 23 in the Rivals.com FAB 50 poll.
"I feel good about our mindset and approach," Dreisbach said. "I would like us to play with more consistency in all phases of the game. I don't know if we've pieced it all together for a while. Hopefully we can gain some consistency and be hitting on all cylinders when the tournament starts next week."
No. 4 Hamilton (12-11), No. 6 Western Brown (15-3) or No. 8 Talawanda (14-8) would be West's opponent in the sectional finals May 16.
Lakota East grabs No. 2 seed in same sectional
The Thunderhawks (13-8) will open up at home against either No. 7 Edgewood (15-8) or No. 9 Fairfield (7-13) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14.
East swept Fairfield in the season series 13-2 and 7-6.
"I'm pretty happy with it," East coach Ray Hamilton said. "Our play has been consistent throughout the season, and I think it warranted a two seed. I'm happy we got that."
A victory Wednesday, and the Thunderhawks would face the winner of No. 3 Mason (13-9)-No. 5 Princeton (11-9) in the sectional finals May 16.
"We're real familiar with anybody that comes out of there," Hamilton said. "Edgewood or Fairfield is going to be a test for us anyway. We've got to play well two games in a row to move on."
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.
