Sophomore Cayden McKinney was impressive over five innings – 1 runs on three hits, with four strikeouts. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie Wright and Sonny Fulks)
In another example of culture versus the lack of priority, Tipp cruised to its 14th win of the season, standing now 8-4 in MVL Miami Division.
Tipp City, OH – It was like so many games we’ve witnessed in the current culture where the lack of priority for baseball is showcased.
The Tippecanoe Red Devils run-ruled winless Stebbins on Monday, 11-1, scoring runs in the first (1), the second (6), the third (2), and the bottom of the fifth (2) to claim their 14th win of the season and their 8th win in the Miami Valley League Miami Division.
It was our first look at Tipp in 2024, a school with a fine legacy of baseball under long-time coach Bruce Cahill (retired), and now directed by first-year coach Cam Dickens, who came to Tipp after time at Chaminade-Julienne, in Dayton.
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Impressions…
Sophomore pitcher Cayden McKinney was competitive, showed a live arm, and more importantly…threw dependable strikes to claim the win, allowing just one run on three hits over five innings.
Junior shortstop Preston Zumwalt had a pair of extra base hits, and the Toledo commit showed every bit of why he’s one of the top three overall players in the MVL.
It’s an athletic group, daring on the bases, and they pulled off the most exciting play in baseball Monday when senior Landon Turner stole home in the second inning, catching Stebbins totally flatfooted.
And, they’re young. With only five seniors on the team (Turner, Braden Burgbacher, Lucas Merry, Jaxon Hill, and Peyton Schultz), Dickens is in the midst of a build. Their best baseball with this group yet to come.
Stebbins, on the other hand, would struggle to make the same claim.
Called out trying to stretch a double, Tipp ran itself out of an even bigger inning in the third.
Their starting pitcher, Malichi Gopar, walked the leadoff hitter in each of the first two innings, and walked nine, overall, in 2.1 innings…the very definition of self-destruction in baseball.
The Indians showed athleticism, hitting some balls hard, including a pair of extra base hits in the top of the fifth inning to score their only run.
But like an increasing number of high school programs, state-wide, the overall impression of Stebbins baseball is the lack of it. They simply haven’t played enough for the game to become instinctive. And as we wrote about other baseball programs in that same condition recently, there is no apparent baseball culture at Stebbins High School – and questionable support. There were few, even parents, that made the trip north to watch. The contrast between the Indians (0-13) and Tipp (14-6) was in sharp contrast.
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“We’re fortunate to have a great culture of baseball here at Tipp,” said Dickens, afterwards. “Coach Cahill and Coach Johnson built it over many years and I can truthfully say…that this was one of the few jobs I would have left Chaminade to take. You have to have instinct to play this sport, and kids that don’t grow up playing baseball struggle to develop those instincts on their own.”
And pausing to consider further, he added, “It’s hard to coach instinct.”
Drew Husic (#3) scores on a second inning wild pitch against Stebbins.
But Tipp, despite its baseball history, is no different where it comes to the simple fact of baseball. YOU HAVE TO PLAY. And the more you play the more you develop instinct for how to play.
For example, Tipp scored one run in the first inning, but could have scored four, but failed to take advantage of multiple runners on, multiple runners in scoring position, when all three outs were recorded via called third strikes. Struggling to throw strikes, Stebbins’ Gopar threw his best pitch and most dependable pitch in a 3-2 count, catching Tipp hitters watching. In high school baseball, you hunt the fastball in that situation.
But in their 6-run second inning, Landon Turner showed a lot of instinct and his four years of experience when he dashed home from third base, beating the pitch to the plate, for a clean steal. So rare is a steal of home, that Reds media made a big deal about it last year when Elly De La Cruz did it. It was no less a deal on Monday…when Landon Turner did it.
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“We have to manufacture runs,” said Dickens. “We don’t have a lot of thumpers, and these guys have taken it on as their identity. And they look for ways to do it because we talk so much about it.”
“It’s the only time I’ve ever done it,” Turner confessed, post-game. “Coach said if I could get a good read, and get it timed up pretty well, to go ahead. I got it timed up, was able to get down the line and it helped us put up a big crooked number in the inning. On the previous pitch, when Preston scored on a wild pitch, I was halfway down the line [as he scored].”
He timed it perfectly…Landon Turner scored on a rare steal of home in the 6-run second inning.
In fact, he timed it so perfectly, that had he been a step quicker he might have scored standing up.
“It was instinct just to slide,” Turner smiled.
Instinct that comes from playing a lot of baseball, or at least…enough baseball. And once again Monday’s game demonstrated how a culture of baseball, where baseball is a priority in the community, at all levels, makes all the difference.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Dickens, speaking of the priority built by Bruce Cahill and Jim Johnson. “Like I said, this was one of the few jobs I was interested in. I took the job in November and since then I’ve come to better understand just how many people there are here who care about baseball – the baseball program. And people you wouldn’t even know that are watching. We have a varsity team, a JV team, and we were close to having enough for a freshman team this year.
“But that’s the goal for future years, and I don’t think it’s out of the question.”
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