The first two home runs of Dominick Dials’ young career turned out to be ample support for Boston College-bound pitcher Jack Ryan as he limited high-scoring Orange to just three hits.
Akron, OH – Surrounded by teammates quietly razzing him during a handful of postgame interviews Thursday night, Cincinnati St. Xavier sophomore third baseman Dominick Dials made a sheepish confession.
“I’ve never been interviewed before,” Dials said. “I hope I did alright.”
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Alright? He walloped two home runs over the right field fence off first-team All-Ohio pitcher Reid Hemrick, tying a state tournament record, while powering St. X to a 5-0 shutout win over Olentangy Orange in a state semifinal at 7 17 Credit Union Park.
Here’s the kicker: Dials, whose father Nick played basketball at Ohio State and Akron, entered as the seven-hole hitter with a season batting average of .245 with seven RBI. And how about hitting your first two career bombs on Ohio high school baseball’s biggest stage?
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“It’s been kind of a rough season personally with injuries,” Dials said. “I missed three-and-a-half weeks with rib and hamstring issues and it took me a while to find my way back.”
Dials’ outburst wasn’t completely a shock to either coach.
Fourth-year Bombers coach Don DiGiacomo said Dials hit the ball hard during batting practice rounds at Walsh Jesuit High School earlier in the day and in the cages before the game.
“But with two excellent pitchers that we had going today, you kind of expect a lower-scoring game, plus homers are pretty much eliminated in big parks like this that we’re not accustomed to playing in,” he said. “And our style of play we have is not hitting home runs. But Dominick really got into those two balls.”
Dials said he was looking fastball but teed off on offspeed pitches that were right in his wheelhouse.
“We knew about (Dials) from the offseason,” Pioneers coach Tom Marker said. “He’s a hell of a talented player. He hit both of those balls hard, too. They really carried.”
Dials hit a solo shot in third, but it was his two-run tater as part of a four-run fourth that gave All-Ohio pitcher Jack Ryan all the support he needed. The Boston College signee allowed just three hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in a 102-pitch gem.
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“We were expecting a pitcher’s duel tonight, but one swing can change the game at any time,” Ryan said. I felt a little bit more calm when it was 1-0, but I felt a lot better when it got to 3-0 and 5-0. Dom was really locked in.”
The program’s career leader in pitching wins, innings pitched, strikeouts and hits, Ryan ran his record to 8-2 as St. Xavier (26-5) set up a state title matchup against Greater Catholic League South Division and age-old Cincinnati rival Cincinnati Moeller (25-6) at 4 p.m. Friday. The Bombers won two out of the three meetings this spring.
Leadoff hitter Dillon Brus also had a terrific game for St. Xavier with two triples, a single and the other two RBI.
It was a rough night for an Orange squad that came in batting .350 as a unit and carried a 15-game win streak to Akron.
“Hemrick is a phenomenal kid and pitcher,” Coach DiGiacomo
“We saw Ryan when he threw a no-hitter against Elder in the district final,” Marker said. “We knew he was really good, but we also knew how capable we were offensively. It’s so late in the season, you might not get your pitchers’ best. I’m not sure if you saw Reid’s best tonight and maybe not even Ryan’s.”
DiGiacomo said he stacked his lineup with left-handed hitters in hopes of neutralizing the best assets of Hemrick (8-1), who committed to Toledo this week.
“Hemrick is a phenomenal kid and pitcher,” DiGiacomo said. “We tried to take away the right-hand side of his slider with the left-handed bats and force him to throw more fastballs and curveballs.”
Pioneers senior third baseman Xavier Aguila said that he and his teammate loaded the bus home with their heads held high. Orange (24-6) was making its third final four appearance.
“It was a great season and a great accomplishment for our guys just to get here,” Aguila said. “We all grew up together so this was so cool … playing in a park like this on the biggest stage. Every guy from top to bottom bought in and came to play every pitch.”
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