Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer. Poland’s Joe Zuccaro pitches during the Bulldogs’ district final loss to Creston Norwayne on Saturday at Bob Cene Park.

STRUTHERS — After a disappointing tournament last year, when top-seeded Poland was upset in a sectional final, the Bulldogs had much to prove this year.

And they did just that by advancing all the way to Saturday’s Division V district championship game at Bob Cene Park. But unfortunately, their run fell short in a hard-fought 7-3 loss to Creston Norwayne.

With the loss, the fourth-seeded Bulldogs close the season with an 18-5 record. Poland knocked off a different Wayne County League opponent in Chippewa on Wednesday.

“We had our ups and downs this season. We had four, now five losses, and we always fought this year. Some people may have thought we had 10 losses this season, but we battled back and won the games that counted,” Bulldog senior Jacob Hayes said. “Today we came up short.”

“We had a great season,” Bulldogs head coach Rich Murray added. “They were fun to coach. That is probably my biggest takeaway from this year. We just didn’t play well today.”

On the day, the Bulldogs would outhit the Bobcats 8-7, but they would commit three errors in the blustery, windy weather conditions. Many of the fly balls became an adventure for the outfielders.

“Michael Dailey and I, we play in this weather during soccer season, but it is a killer. It was a killer for the outfielders with the wind. It was a struggle out there,” Hayes said.

The traditionally strong Bobcats improve to 20-8 on the year and advance to a regional semifinal contest against Canton Central Catholic at Massillon Washington on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

After the two teams traded two runs apiece in the first frame, the Bobcats scratched out one run in the second and then exploded for four more runs in the third inning to seize the momentum with a 7-2 advantage.

They rode that momentum the rest of the contest, with Poland only managing to push one more run across the plate.

“We needed to field the ball well and score some runs,” Murray said. “We had that bad inning, and that is how baseball is.”

“We knew that they could hit the ball. We needed to play a good, clean game, and things just didn’t go in our favor today,” Hayes added.

After the Bobcats scored twice in the opening inning, the Bulldogs answered with two of their own when Carmine Tukalo led off by reaching second base on a throwing error by Norwayne’s pitcher.

Tukalo came home on a double by Joe Zuccaro to right-center to make it a 2-1 game. Zuccaro then scored when Dylan Kelty poked an RBI double inside the right-field foul line to knot the game up at 2-2.

Poland cut the deficit to four in the third inning when Hayes slapped a one-out base hit to right-center, and then he scored on an RBI single by Zuccaro. At that point, the Bulldogs made it a 7-3 game, but that was all they could muster against the Bobcats’ pitchers.

Hayes started on the mound and was tagged with all seven runs on just six hits, while striking out one and issuing two walks in 2.1 innings. Zuccaro settled the game down for the Bulldogs in tossing the final 4.2 innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out three Bobcat batters and issuing one walk.

At the plate, Poland’s Tukalo and Zaccaro each collected two hits. Zuccaro would also collect two RBIs, while Kelty provided the other RBI. Zuccaro and Kelty each had a double for the Bulldogs’ only extra base hits.

“We had some chances there,” Murray said. “We didn’t get some timely hits. We left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, and a couple of runners on in another inning. But we battled.”

Norwayne’s Ashton Snyder picked up the victory on the mound by throwing five innings and giving up threeruns on six hits. He also recorded three strikeouts and walked two Bulldog batters. Snyder would help his own cause by going 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs. Catcher Grady Cotton was also 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

“The camaraderie of this team was crazy,” Hayes said. “We always hang out and play cards together. It was an enjoyable season.”