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Division III Team Of The Week: Millbury Lake

MILLBURY - Giving up just 11 runs in 15 games bodes well for getting in the win column. That has been the case this season for unbeaten Lake, PBR Ohio’s Division III Team of the week.

“The thing that has surprised me the most about this team is that I thought we’d be good on the mound, but we’ve been outstanding,” admitted head coach Greg Wilker, whose 15-0 team has won eight games via shutout. “We knew we had good senior pitchers that would keep us in games. They’re not dominate, but they throw strikes.”

To date, pitchers for the Flyers have struck out 126 while walking just 31 led by the one-two punch of senior right-handers Jacob Boelkens and Austin Fouty. Both are 5-0 on the season, Boelkens with a 0.42 ERA in 33 innings with just five walks and Fouty with a 0.00 ERA in 27 innings.

Senior catcher Dawson Delventhal (UNOH recruit, Video) has helped out the pitchers behind the plate. A three-year starter, Delventhal is batting .345 with 10 RBIs, including a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Fostoria 3-0 last Monday when Fouty fired a no-hitter.

“He’s a big reason our pitchers are having success,” Wilkers said of the 6-2 185-pound catcher. “There are years you’re afraid to throw a curve in the dirt, especially with a runner on third, but we’re not afraid to this year. He blocks it and he can throw it well.”

That is one of the many reasons this year’s squad is off to the unbeaten start which has Lake the top-ranked Division III team in the state.

“Several things have stood out this year,” said Wilker, whose squad beat Woodmore 5-2 on Monday for win number 15. “First of all, this is an intelligent group. I’ve had most of them in class and they’re very good students. Because of that, they’re students of the game.

“This is also a very athletic group. They run well. We’re 42-for-45 stealing bases. We play a lot of small ball and like to run. We also play really good defense.”

Leadoff hitter Harrison Jackson sets the table for Lake. A senior second baseman, Jackson is batting .490 with four doubles, five triples, one home run and 24 RBIs. Senior five-hole hitter Luke Walsh is another big weapon with a .348 average and eight RBIs.

It has all added up to the Flyers sitting atop the Northern Buckeye Conference standings, a league that includes D-III 25th-ranked Genoa along with perennial strong programs at Eastwood and Elmwood. Otsego and Fostoria are off to solid starts as well adding to the challenges ahead for Lake.

“We have a group of seniors that have a passion for the game, with at least five going to be playing at the college level,” noted Wilker, with Boelkens headed to Bluffton, Jackson to Lourdes, Walsh to Davenport, Delventhal to UNOH and Fouty likely to Owens. “They really love the game and they’re really unselfish. We have nine seniors and three or four don’t play a lot. But they work their tails off and that’s not only made themselves better but the team better.

“It’s really been a joy,” continued Wilker, whose team has Evergreen, Eastwood and Elmwood ahead on this week’s schedule. “I want to see our players participate in other sports, it breeds winning, but baseball is a lot of these guy’s favorite sport. They played a lot of baseball growing up and it shows.”