Familiar Foes Cameron, Madonna Set For OVAC 1A Championship Meeting

RICHMOND – The Cameron Dragons and Madonna Blue Dons have gotten very familiar with each other over the last four years.

“Over the last three years we’ve played each other four or fives times a year, being in the same section, same region, we schedule games during the regular season,” Cameron head coach Adam Angel said in a phone interview Thursday. “Then we play in the OVAC semi final or final. The last four years, we’ve probably played them about 16 times.”

They say familiarity breeds contempt, but as the Dragons and Blue Dons prepare to face each other in the OVAC 1A championship for the third time in four years, the feeling surrounding either team is one of mutual respect.

“I’ve known their coaching staff for a number of years,” Angel said. “Madonna is very well-coached, very disciplined. They get the absolute best out of their players which is exactly what you want as a coach.”

“I know Adam pretty well, he does a great job, have a lot of respect for Coach Angel and what he’s done with his team,” Madonna head coach TJ Miller said in a phone interview Thursday. “I know he has a little bit of a younger team this year, a bit of a mix with some older guys too.”

“[…] Our guys are locked in, they know what’s coming, we have respect for Cameron. They’ve been putting together some wins coming into this game. We know they’re going to put forward their best and we have to give them ours.”

Indeed, Cameron (14-7) is riding a seven-game win streak heading into their title bout against Madonna (15-2), including an OVAC semifinal victory over Conotton Valley, and they’ve been doing it during an on-the-fly retooling job.

“We lost a lot of arms, a lot of athletes over the last couple of years and we’re kind of in a rebuild,” Angel said.

“We don’t have the same power pitching that we’ve had, so we’re going to have to play very clean defense, we can’t give [Madonna] any extra outs. Offensively we’re going to try to generate a run an inning, if we can get a big inning that’ll be great. Last time we played we were unable to do that, but that’s the goal. I like our odds if we do that and we score seven runs, but you need to find a way.”

The Dragons lost to the Blue Dons 7-1 on April 9, as Madonna has encountered very few setbacks on their way to a top-three ranking in W.Va. Class A statewide polls.

“We’ve had a great year so far, we’re 15-2, we’re playing very good baseball right now,” Miller said. “The kids are buying into what we’re coaching, they’re rolling right now. Hopefully we stay hot and keep moving in the right direction. Ultimately, our goal is a state championship this season and these guys are bought-in and giving everything they have to reach that goal.”

Madonna has gotten contributions up and down their roster.

Jacob Lazear, Reed Wilharm, David Connors and Matthew Geer have made up an impressive pitching staff- “Any time those guys start on the hill we’re typically in a great spot,” Miller said- while Connors, Geer, Lazear, Koleton Grishkevich, Reno Fuscardo and Caleb Wells have produced plenty of offense at the plate.

Connors is sitting at a batting average above .500 for the year and an OBP of over .600.

“He’s hitting lights-out this year,” Miller said.

“Pitching has been our strongest suit this year so if our pitchers show up Friday like we expect them to, that’ll be key. Playing fundamental baseball on defense, which we’ve been doing better at, that’ll be another key. Being patient at the plate, our approach at the plate this year has gotten better and better as far as working counts and being better two-strike hitters. As long as we keep that approach at the plate, that’ll put us in a good position.”

As for Cameron, they bring their own firepower into the game with Kason Angel the best bet to start on the mound- though others like Wes Starcher have played an important pitching role as well.

“Kason Angel came in as our hard throwing, most consistent pitcher coming into the season,” Angel said. “We knew we were going to have to get some innings from some younger guys or older guys who didn’t have the experience.”

“When Kason Angel is pitching they’re an extremely tough team to beat,” Miller said. “Kason does a great job- we faced Cameron earlier in the year but they didn’t pitch Kason. We were able to jump on them a little bit and capitalize on some mistakes.”

Soier Reed has been wielding a hot bat as of late- Angel said he had gone 11-13 at the plate in the team’s four-game stretch leading up to the OVAC semifinals, and Zayde Long has led the team in RBI all season. The pair, along with Angel and Starcher, are vital to Cameron’s offense. Angel also shouted out freshman catcher Anthony Bellanco, whose development offensively and defensively has impressed the Dragons coaches.

Friday’s game, the lone championship on Friday before a two-game slate on Saturday, is set for a 6 p.m. start at Edison Unified Sports Complex in Richmond, Ohio.