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Newark Catholic slides into Div. IV No. 1 spot.

Davidson over Darby -- (4/23 update) -- The two Hilliard schools threw it down again yesterday at Darby (13-2) with the Davidson Wildcats (14-2) prevailing 5-1. Davidson took a 3-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back. Dan Winter pitched the complete game victory for the Wildcats. (4/24) Wednesday's wins -- Davidson (15-2) continued to roll, defeating Upper Arlington (3-9) 11-6 in a game that was tied 4-4 after 1 inning. Other notable winners were Newark Catholic (9-3) 9-4 over Lakewood (5-11), Bexley (8-6) 6-1 over Licking Valley (11-2), Hilliard Darby (14-2) 13-3 over Newark (6-10), Heath (15-1) 5-0 over Columbus Academy (4-7-2) and Pickerington Central (9-5) 10-5 over Worthington Kilbourne (12-4).   State Poll Stuff -- Davidson is also now ranked No. 1 in the statewide Division I poll released today. Darby is fifth and Worthington Kilbourne 10th. Newark Catholic sits atop the Div. IV state perch coming off 2007 state runner-up and 2006 state champ years. The Green Wave's Matt Lott has started the season batting an astonishing .741 (20-27), and Mark Elwell, who is headed to play at Xavier, started the year hitting .600 in his first 20 AB's. DeSales is eighth in Division II and pounded Div. IV Worthington Christian (9-8), which was No.2 in the Div. IV local poll and No. 8 statewide, yesterday by a score of 26-0. Heath did not make the top ten statewide in Division III but likely will if their strong play continues. 4/24 Lott update -- Newark Catholic's Matt Lott's incredible batting average plummetted all the way to.618 when he lined out hard three times on Monday. Lott, a senior, mainly catches and hit .462 in 2007. He has 3 homers and 15 RBI so far this year but also knows how to take a walk when necessary, which has put his OBA at .725.

Heath won the D III championship in 2007.

Hilliard Highs -- The 2008 season is off to a bang in the suburb of Hilliard as the Darby (13-1) and Davidson (13-2) squads battle for supremacy in Division I. The two are currently ranked 1 and 2 repectively by the Columbus Dispatch coaches' poll. Darby defeated Davidson earlier this year by a score of 9-7 after leading 6-1 in the third. The two play again this afternoon (4/22) at 5pm at Darby, so get out there and enjoy some ball on a sunny 75 degree afternoon! There have been significant highlights already as lefty Tyler Backstrom of Davidson no-hit Port Huron earlier in the year, adding a three run homer as well in the game. Junior outfielder Hunter Broadstone is hitting .472 for the Wildcats, and senior Joey Ciamacco is heading to Ohio State as a recruit. At Darby, senior outfielder and pitcher Lance Kingrey is hitting .420 so far. Darby won its first OCC title last year and hopes to repeat. Stallions Strutting -- Div II DeSales is out ahead of the pack with 10-2 start and a top local ranking for new coach Tom Neubert. DeSales defeated St. Charles (7-5) yesterday 7-1. Senior Ryan Curl is batting .450 for DeSales and is heading to Miami, OH to play ball next year. He was invited to the Under Armour Pre-Season All-America Tournament in Arizona this past January. Repeat in Heath? -- Our local 2007 Division III state champs from Licking County are at it again. Heath stands on top its CD-coaches local poll at 14-1after beating Bexley (7-5) by a score of  5-4 yesterday, scoring three runs in its last two at bats for the come from behind victory. Heath also has some other good wins under its belt, including 6-2 over Div. IV local No.1 Newark Catholic (8-2) and over Div. II local No. 2 Licking Valley (11-1-1 with a 9-9 tie yesterday with Columbus Academy, which has also fallen to Heath). Heath coach Dave Klontz won the 2007 National High School Baseball coach of the year, awarded by the American Baseball Coaches Association. 

Tags: baseball, high school baseball, high school sports