The Wadsworth Grizzlies won their opening game in the state baseball tournament on Thursday, beating North Royalton 2-0.
The victory by the Grizzlies had a great deal of significance for another reason. The win was the 100th for Greg Pickard as head coach of the Wadsworth baseball team.
“I’m just happy for the program to be where its at” said Pickard. “Coach Gearhart said to me congratulations on your 100th. I said no, its for the both of us. It means a lot to get there with a great friend of yours, someone who you really trust”.
It was good pitching that carried Wadsworth to victory against North Royalton. Senior Ross Thompson worked into the seventh and Chris Byers got the final two outs in relief to get the save.
The Wadsworth offense gave Thompson the only run he would need in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI off the bat of Josh Hagans.
“My breaking ball was a first pitch strike almost every time. It felt really good to throw that whenever”, said Thompson.
The win was huge especially for the seniors. In the three years that Wadsworth has been playing baseball at “the Swamp”, the diamond behind the High School, the Grizzlies have yet to lose a game.
“This is absolutely huge for us. It’s one of the number one goals on the dry erase board in the locker room. There’s a legacy that all the seniors last year left for us. We, the senior class, didn’t want to be the first ones to lose at ‘the Swamp”, said Thompson.
The next Tournament game will be Wednesday against Highland at Barberton High School. These teams played once this season at Canal Park. The Hornets won that game, beating the Grizzlies 10-2.
