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Mistakes cost Poland in 7-1 defeat

Staff photo / Joel Whetzel Poland's Michael Nittoli fires in a pitch during the first inning of the Bulldogs' 7-1 loss to Howland on Saturday.

POLAND — Too many mistakes and a quiet day of offense were too much for Poland to overcome Saturday, as the Bulldogs fell to visiting Howland in nonconference play, 7-1.

Poland (7-7) committed six errors in the loss and fell behind the Tigers (5-6) early, as Howland jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and made that stand for the victory.

“We were expecting a good game out of Howland, and in the second inning we just made some bad plays in the field and got behind early,” said Poland coach Rich Murray. “We didn’t hit the ball real well, and their kid pitched well.”

Howland starter Evan McBane didn’t post any dominant stats — just one strikeout — but did well in scattering hits and minimizing damage as it came. He finished with four innings of work and gave up four hits and a walk, and Poland’s only run was unearned in the fourth.

In that frame, the Bulldogs got runners on the corners with no outs, but McBane managed a double play to get out of the jam with just the one run scored.

Chris Denney had a pair of hits for Poland, including a double, while three other Bulldogs each singled once. Poland only drew one walk in the loss.

“I think we had a bunch of bad at-bats,” Murray said. “I think we only hit the ball hard five times all day, so you’re not going to win when you do that and put yourself in the hole 4-0.”

Poland starter Michael Nittoli went five innings, giving up five runs — just two earned — on five hits and no walks. He struck out one. Matt Paparodis finished the game, giving up a pair of earned runs on three hits and a walk in two innings.

Howland, which has won three of its last four since a 4-0 loss at Salem last week, had eight hits in the win, three of which came off the bat of Anthony Massucci. The senior went 3-for-4, plated three RBIs and belted a double in the second inning to blow the game open.

Brendan Ray also doubled and drove in a pair of runs.

“We’ve been working on our approach — just the mental approach,” said Howland coach Zach Byler. “It’s never been the skills for our guys; it’s just their mental approach at the plate and getting the job done.”

That’s been the difference in Howland’s recent hot streak, he added — not just in the batter’s box, but in general.

“Just that mental side,” Byler said. “We’re saying it when we break (team huddles). We’ve been going one at a time, just really focusing on being tough one inning at a time.”

Mason Bayus picked up where McBane left off, throwing two shutout innings and giving up one hit, and then Braden Gebhardt slammed the door with a hitless seventh that included a pair of strikeouts.

“We had all three senior pitches, and they just came out and showed a lot of maturity and threw a lot of strikes,” Byler said. “We had great fielding from everybody, but especially our second baseman (Ryan Hooper), who made some really tough plays. It was just a good senior performance.”

Howland faces Austintown Fitch on Monday.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, will look to get back on track against Girard that day.

“We play again Monday, so just the next day up, next guy up,” Murray said. “We’ll just try and correct some of that stuff and play a better game.”

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com

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