Undefeated Flyers know much lies ahead

Press Sports Editor
sports@presspublications.com

Timely hitting. Good pitching. Team chemistry.
Those three things are key to having success in baseball, and the Lake Flyers check off each one of those boxes.
As one might expect, third-year coach Casey Witt is very pleased with how his team is playing as it sits at 11-0 and 4-0 in the Northern Buckeye Conference.
The dominance is obvious as Lake has won all but two of its games by at least four runs.
“I really believe that if you’re able to pitch and throw strikes, and have pitching depth, that’s a major asset,” said Witt. “That allows us to relax in every other facet of the game and play more freely.
“I tell our guys that there are three things we want: (1) a quality approach on every pitch; (2) throwing strikes; and (3) to make routine plays.”
The ace of the rotation is Drew Tajblik, who is followed by Ryan Wagner and the duo of Caleb Tobias and Jay Blazevich.
Tajblik is 4-0 with a 0.618 ERA, Wagner is 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA, Tobias is 2-0 with a 0.583 ERA and Blazevich is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA.
The timely hitting has been key, like it was in the 3-2 win over Clyde when Tobias had a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning that gave the Flyers the lead.
And there was the 7-3 defeat of Oak Harbor when Blazevich had four RBIs, which occurred with two runs in the third and two in the fourth, both times with two out.
“We talk about how important it is to have a good approach and grind. Timely hits win games,” said Witt. “Timely hitting can add momentum or switch momentum in a game. We’ve been fortunate that a lot of guys have done that for us this year.
Tajblik (.441 BA, 1.222 OPS) plays shortstop when he’s not pitching, Blazevich (.405 BA, .936 OPS) also plays second base and Tobias is also a first baseman.
There’s also Gavin Kohlhofer, the lead-off man who plays catcher; Jack Sobzack (.387 BA, .964 OPS), the third baseman; Connor Eck (.379 BA), the designated hitter; Aiden Young (.267 BA, .859 OPS), the left fielder and Korbin Adkins, the right fielder.
Following Kohlhofer in the lineup are Tajblik, Blazevich, Wagner, Sobzack, Eck, Young, Tobias and Adkins.
There are three more players who see game action as well – Caiden Cousins, Zaiden Kohlenberg and Dylan Manz.
Witt counts Young as one of the club’s unsung heroes.
“Aiden used to play center field, and he changed positions. He’s been in the weight room and gotten stronger and was part of a throwing program,” Witt said. “He leads the team in on-base percentage, and he’s been very important to our dugout and climate.”
Finally, the team’s chemistry may be what sets it apart from others in the NBC and the surrounding area.
“We have a veteran group of guys that respect each other, and we lean on our seniors per se,” Witt said. “I trust all 12 of them implicitly. As far as goals, we talked about things as a coaching staff, and (the players) know what the expectations are.
“For them, it’s easy to get along and they enjoy being around each other; that’s been part of our early success. It’s a group of friends that have had a fun time playing together (since they were younger),” he said.
In three years, Witt has won two-thirds of his games and has a career record of 44-21 (.677).