Prep Baseball Report

Division II Team Of The Week: Week 1 and 2 - Marlington


Bruce Hefflinger and Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer and Editor in Chief/NW Scout

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Division II Team Of The Week: Week 1 and 2 - Marlington

ALLIANCE - A pair of one-run wins over Salem has propelled Marlington to a 5-0 record and the Dukes are the Prep Baseball Report Division II Team of the Week.

“We have not really beat ourselves in any game that we played so far this year by playing solid defense,” noted head coach Cody Jones, whose squad defeated Carrollton 6-0 and 11-1 and Woodridge 10-0 prior to the 1-0 and 7-6 victories over Salem, a regional finalist a year ago. “We have only committed four errors through five games and we have won the freebie war each game as well.”

Pitching has been superb behind senior right-handers Garret Odey and Connor Evanich along with junior Tommy Skelding, a Kentucky recruit.

“Garret has been lights out through two starts so far this year,” Jones said of Odey, a Notre Dame College commit who has thrown two complete games against Carrollton and Salem totaling 14 innings allowing no runs, eight hits and two walks with 14 strikeouts. “Connor also threw a shutout against Woodridge giving up one hit and no walks with nine Ks in six innings.”

Skelding was the winning pitcher against Salen in a game the Dukes beat Virginia Tech commit Carson Rhodes, with a three-run homer by Luke Tortola in the fourth inning giving Marlington a 4-0 lead.

“We knew that Salem would be a very good test early on in the year,” Jones related. “They’re a very good team that will bounce back and be a force by year's end. Getting those two wins was huge for the league race and for momentum as we head into a tough week this week.”

A matchup Wednesday at Massillon Jackson opens the week that includes a road game against Ottawa Hills on Friday and a contest with Badin on Saturday in the PBR High School Classic at Defiance.

“To continue this success we will need to stay healthy and keep being efficient,” pointed out Jones, whose offense has been led by junior Drew Denham who is hitting .533 with one home run and two doubles, scoring 10 runs with seven stolen bases and two RBIs. “We have some depth on the mound, but not an abundance of it.

“We need to continue playing good defense and throwing strikes,” added Jones, who listed Josh Dezenzo, Ben Yoder, Danny Grimes and Bowling Green commit Caden Bates as the top returning players along with Odey, Denham and Skelding from last season’s squad that finished 14-10. “Our offense will need to pick it up over the next few weeks as we have some very tough matchups coming up, both in the league and out of it.”

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