LIMA – Locos first baseman/third baseman Kevin Woodall knows a few things about postseason play.
Just a few weeks ago he helped Coastal Carolina win the Division I College World Series.
Now, he and his Locos’ teammates enter the Great Lakes Collegiate League playoffs with a first-round bye and the No. 1 seed.
The Locos will open the best-of-three semifinals series at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the Licking County/Grand Lake winner at Simmons Field. Game 1 (on Wednesday) and Game 3 (if necessary on Friday) will be in Lima. Game 2 will be on the road on Thursday.
Licking County (23-19) is at Grand Lake (23-19) Tuesday in a first-round game.
“You have to take it like every other at-bat (during the year),” Woodall said of the playoffs. “There’s a little more on the line, but if you let it get to you, you’re going to set yourself up for failure. You just want to pick each other up and take it one at-bat at a time. If we do that, we’ll be all right.”
The 6-foot-6 Woodall has given the Locos another offensive weapon in the second half of the season.
“It’s been great,” Woodall said. “Playing on a team where you can go from one team winning a lot to another team winning a lot, it’s fun. This crowd (in Lima) has really embraced the whole thing and it’s fun to be here.”
The defending GLCL champion Locos won the North Division of the GLCL with a 28-13 record.
The Locos have won the GLCL four times (1993, 2004, 2011 and 2015).
This Locos finished second in the GLCL in hitting at .288. Hamilton led the league in hitting at .310. The Locos’ pitching staff led the league in ERA at 3.06.
“I thought our pitching has done great all summer,” Locos coach Chad Ehrnsberger said. “We’re number one in the league in pitching. Offensively, we’re inconsistent. Some games we look like world beaters and some games we don’t look so good. That’s one thing I’ve been trying to work on with the guys, is being more consistent and having the right approach when you step in the batter’s box. We’re getting better at it, but we’re not as good as we can be.”
Woodall leads the team in batting average at .372. He also leads the team with three home runs, although he’s played in only 11 games. He has 15 RBI.
Center fielder Jeremy Johnson (Auburn) is hitting .368 and set a single-season Locos’ record with 17 hit by pitch. He also has seven doubles and 11 stolen bases. Johnson anchors the outfield defense with his play in center.
Outfielder Jared Nixon (Alabama-Birmingham) is hitting .323 with 10 doubles and 21 RBI. He has 11 stolen bases.
Second baseman Jason Sullivan (Central Michigan) is hitting .324 with nine doubles and team-leading 26 RBI.
The other two .300 hitters are catchers DayFran Ortiz (UNOH) at .303 and Jacob Barnwell (Ohio State) at .316.
Other top hitters include infielder Daino Deas (Auburn) at .280 with nine doubles and 25 RBI and outfielder Ross Adolph (Toledo) at .270 with four triples. First baseman Logan Quimuyog (James Madison) is at .267.
Defensive standout shortstop David Chabut (Kennesaw State) is hitting .262.
The starting rotation has been strong all season with left-hander Connor Curlis (Ohio State/Findlay), who is 6-0 with a 1.06 ERA. He has 39 strikeouts in 42 innings. Curlis is only the sixth Locos pitcher to reach the team-record six wins.
Right-hander Ryan Cyr (Mississippi State) is 4-0 with a 1.33. Right-hander Brad Croy (Bowling Green State/Ottawa-Glandorf) is 5-1 with a 1.92.
Right-hander Cas Silber (High Point) is 3-2 with a 1.89.
There’s also right-hander Bailey Martin (Miami), who threw a one-hitter and is 1-1 with a 4.03.
Others in the mix for a start are Tyler Anderson (Bowling Green State/Shawnee) and lefty Channing Nesbitt (Washington). Anderson is 1-0 with a 4.72, while Nesbitt is 0-2 with a 3.45.
Ehrnsberger also likes his bullpen with right-hander Nick Spear (Mercer) with 11 saves and a 2.11 ERA. With his 93 mph fastball, Spear has 28 strikeouts in 17 innings. Spear finished one save away from the club record of 12 set by J.R. Peck in 2007.
Spear’s set-up men include left-hander Austin Cox (Mercer), with a 2.13, and right-hander Andrew Reeves (Kennesaw State), who hasn’t given up a run in eight innings.
“We have big-time confidence in our bullpen, with Spear, Cox and Reeves,” Ehrnsberger said. “And those other guys do the job when they’re asked to.”
Lima led the league in fielding percentage (.970) and fewest errors (47).
“Our defense has been playing really well,” Ehrnsberger said. “That helps the pitchers. … Our outfield can run down about any fly ball and with Chewey (David Chabut) at short and the other guys playing different (infield) positions, they are all good at whatever position I put them at. It’s a good feeling as a pitcher when you know you can let them put the ball in play and the play will get made.”
Ehrnsberger said he will either start Curlis or Cyr in Game 1 on Wednesday. Whoever doesn’t start in Game 1, will go in Game 2.
“Those two will be Wednesday and Thursday,” Ehrnsberger said. “Then, we have Croy and Silber and we’re still talking about the rotation. It’s still up in the air. A lot of it will depend on matchups and how the series has gone. But we’re confident in all those guys.”
The Locos earned the No. 1 seed with the best overall record. That will give them home-field advantage in the best-of-three semifinals and the best-of-five championship series, if they advance past the semifinals.
“It means a lot (to get home field) considering it was a goal from the first day we got here,” Deas said. “Chad (Ehrnsberger) told us the expectations, and I felt we met them. But we’re not finished.”
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