The sectional final loss at Wheelersburg was the final game in the high school careers of five North Adams seniors. From left, Mason Groves, Landon Swayne, Kelby Moore, Nathan Parks and Connor Rhoden. Absent from the photo was Tyler Reed. (Photo by Talitha Parks)
North Adams baseball closes at 7-15
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
After a first round Division III sectional tournament win at home over Crooksville, Coach Rob Meade and his North Adams Green Devils baseball squad faced a much tougher task in their trip to the sectional finals. The Devils were on the road on May 18 to face the #4 seeded Wheelersburg Pirates. For the North Adams nine, it was the end of the road as the Pirates used a big six-run third inning to pull away and eventually run rule the Devils in five innings by a final count of 10-0.
It was a tough day for North Adams starter Caleb Rothwell, who surrendered nine runs in 2 2/3 innings of work though he wasn’t helped much by his defense as only four of those runs were earned. The Devils offense could only muster three hits off of Pirate pitching, a double by Rothwell and singles off the bats of Easton Daulton and Asher Young.
The season-ending loss ended the North Adams spring season with a final record of 7-15, going 5-8 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play. Their offense struggled at times with just a .249 team average for the season,but two hitters stood out, Rothwell hitting .364 and being an All-Conference selection and Easton Daulton, who swung the bat at a .316 clip. Rothwell finished 3-4 on the mound with a 2.43 earned run average, while Daulton was 2-3 with an ERA of 6.34.
“As a team we were not able to reach the goals we set for ourselves going into the season,” said Coach Meade. “We believed with the guys we had returning, that we could finish above .500 and compete for the league championship. We had too many defensive mistakes (78 unearned runs on the season) to allow that to happen. Going forward, we have to improve our baseball IQ, eliminate defensive mistakes and compete better at the plate. We’ve got a group of incoming seniors that have seen a great deal of playing time that will be counted upon to provide leadership and perform at higher levels.”
The loss at Wheelersburg was the final game in the careers of 2023 seniors Mason Groves, Landon Swayne, Kelby Moore, Nathan Parks, Tyler Reed and Connor Rhoden.
“We lose six seniors, five who have been part of the program for 3 or 4 years. Their graduation leaves us positions to fill, namely catcher, first base, second base and right field. We wish all of them, Connor, Kelby, Landon, Tyler, Nathan and Mason success as they move on to their chosen career paths.”
