Poland aims to win first district crown since 2019
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Poland, once a perennial regional and state baseball contender, enters the 2026 season having gone without a district title since 2019.
Bulldogs head coach Rich Murray had hoped his team would end their drought last season, when they won 11 of their first 12 games, including a season opener against eventual Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) champion Hubbard. However, Poland's season ended with an 18-5 record after a 7-3 loss in the Division V, Northeast 1 district final.
"We thought we had a real good chance last year, and we ran into a tough Norwayne team," Murray said. "I mean, it's tough because you've got 32 teams, and some of them you've never seen play before in the two districts. ... In one game of baseball like that, it's tough because you go over and face one good pitcher or have a bad inning pitching, lose one game and you're out."
Tasked with replacing just three seniors to graduation, Poland enters the year with most of its key contributors returning.
The pitching staff, an annual hallmark of the Bulldogs, will again be deep in 2026. Murray said he has "maybe eight to 10" players who will see time on the mound, but likely none more than senior Joe Zuccaro, Poland's probable No. 1 in the rotation. Murray said Owen McKenzie, David Vlosich, Tucker Tarajack and La Roche (Pa.) commit Stephen Kopkash will be his primary starters.
Junior Grady Pitzulo would normally be in the rotation as well, but he has assumed catching responsibilities since starting catcher Dylan Kelty suffered a sprained foot, which Murray said will keep him out of action for "a while."
Although Murray believes Poland has plenty of "parts" that he said they will need to figure out how to use as the season goes along, he expressed confidence in senior Carmine Tukalo, the Bulldogs' leadoff batter who is starting his third year at shortstop.
"He kind of makes us go at the top of the lineup," Murray said.
SLOW AND STEADY
While early-season wins against the likes of Austintown Fitch and NE8 rival South Range would certainly be welcomed, Murray, Poland's head baseball coach since 2004, is not going to rush things with his plethora of pitchers.
He said that as the conditions remain cold and the Bulldogs come out of the winter sports season, the focus is "getting our arms ready to go" before they get deep into the conference schedule, which begins for Poland on April 13 with a back-to-back vs. South Range.
Poland and South Range have been two of the most consistent contenders for the league title over the years, with the pair making up half of the four different champions in the last four years.
"The league's strong this year, a lot of teams that could win it all," Murray said. "There's a lot of good individual players. Like when you play Hubbard and face [Braydon] Songer, you better shut them out, because you're not going to score more than one or two.
"So the usual teams are good. It'll be grueling. It'll be tough."
Before then, Poland, which had a Saturday season opener vs. Carrollton canceled due to weather, is now set to start the year by hosting Boardman on Monday. The Bulldogs will then visit Fitch on Wednesday.
RUNS ON THE BOARD
While pitching and defense are not concerns for Poland, providing run support consistently may be, although Murray said the preseason has proven relatively kind in that regard.
"We gotta create some runs and hope pitching keeps us in our game. ... For league play, we need to make sure we're hitting the ball," Murray said. "We had a nice scrimmage the other day, hitting a lot of line drives and stuff like that, not popping out."
If the Bulldogs can score enough, they may finally get out of the district tournament, where they have fallen in two of the last three years despite winning more than 70% of their games in that span.
To help get over the hump, Murray said he has brought back a few players from last year's team to coach and, potentially, get to experience several weeks of playoff baseball.
"We set our goal at winning the league, and get ourselves all primed up for the tournament, and hopefully, we can make a long run," Murray said.