Sprankle, Lakewood baseball pick off Johnstown in LCL-Cardinal opener

On Apr 4, 2023

HEBRON ― Is it a balk? Apparently not.

As a sophomore jayvee pitcher last year, Lakewood southpaw Mason Sprankle picked 23 runners off base. On Monday, his move translated to the next level, as in his first varsity start, he nabbed three Johnstown players in a 3-0 shutout in a Licking County League-Cardinal Division opener at Don and Mary Ann Thorp Field. No balks were called.

Sprankle comes close to reaching the balk line, but is confident he’s not hitting it. “I know where the 45 percent angle is, and can tell by where I’m landing,” he said, after allowing just four hits over 6 1-3 innings, walking only two and fanning four. “I tried to keep them guessing what I was going to throw. It was mainly my curve. It was strong and I was feeling it, hitting my spots. For my first start, I’m pretty happy.”

Lakewood coach Chuck Davis insisted that the move is not even borderline. “He’s got a really good one. We talk about it and we work on it,” Davis said. “Tyler Bebout also has a good move.”

The Lancers (2-3, 1-0), who halted a three-game losing streak, needed Bebout, their lefthanded senior ace, to finally finish off the Johnnies (1-2, 0-1). They loaded the bases in the seventh on an error and walks to Jacob Myers and losing pitcher Nash Andrix. But Bebout struck out Clay Bruning and pinch-hitter Caiden Scholl to end the game.

Andrix and Cole Boroff each pitched three innings for Johnstown, with Boroff retiring all nine batters in relief and striking out four. Andrix gave up just two earned runs, with three strikeouts and three walks. Coach Travis Carpenter said his team is in a good place on the mound.

“We have three guys (Bruning, Andrix and Boroff) who can throw strikes,” he said. “Cole threw less than 30 pitches in three innings. We just have to hit the baseball. After Saturday (a loss to St. Charles), we tried to switch things up today, moving Chase Boroff up from 9 to 1. Hopefully, we can pick it up and make it better.”

The Lancers scored all the runs they would need in the third inning, when Hayden Ferry singled, was sacrificed to second by Luke Pierce, and took third when Carter Flowers singled to left. Will Marrero then ripped an RBI double to right-center, and he and Flowers both scored on wild pitches.

“We talked in the dugout about sitting back on the curveball and being aggressive on the fastball,” Marrero said. “I was down 0-2, and just wanted to put the ball in play anywhere I could. We got the momentum.”

Sprankle took over from there, erasing the leadoff runner from first in the second and third innings, and getting another one ending the fourth. His team played solid defense behind him, keeping All-Ohioan Garrett Grinstead off the bases.

“They played great today,” Sprankle said. “We really needed this win bad.”

“He threw amazing. I’ve seen him pitch probably 1,000 times, and that was the best I’ve seen him,” said Marrero, who moved to first base from left field and successfully got all three rundowns started. “He got ahead early, and his fastball was good, too.”

The LCL small school division is shaping up to be a real dogfight, with junior-dominated Lakewood serving notice it could contend, along with defending champion Newark Catholic, the Johnnies, Heath and Utica. “We have to cut down on strikeouts and do a better job of putting the ball in play,” Davis said.