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Division III Team Of The Week: Minford

MINFORD - A nine-game winning streak has Minford sitting at 20-1 entering this week’s action. It also has the Falcons honored as the Ohio Prep Baseball Report Division III Team of the Week.

The lone defeat for the state’s third-ranked Division III team came against Wheelersburg (ranked 15th), a team that the Falcons have split with this year.

Impressive wins have mounted up for Minford under the direction of first-year head coach Anthony Knittle.

“We’ve played a tough schedule,” noted Knittle, who is in his fourth year with the program. “We’ve purposely bumped it up this year. Being a team with older guys, we wanted to put pressure on them. All of our non-conference foes are Division II.”

Jackson, Adena and Waverly are teams that Minford has beaten twice with other significant wins coming over Circleville and Athens, a pair of 15-5 D-II squads.

“Our challenge has been to get the kids used to our new style of play,” Knittle explained. “We haven’t changed much, but we’re doing things a little bit different than the last coach. The kids have adjusted and as a coach that makes you feel good.”

Knittle pointed to a few vital things he has tried to instill this season.

“Day in and day out I want them to give me 100 percent,” Knittle said. “Attitude, effort and intensity are required. Those are three things that coaches can’t bring. It’s self-motivation that the kids have to bring.

“Being aggressive on the basepaths is another thing. We like to apply pressure on the opponent.”

The Falcons are 98 out of 110 on steal attempts to date, a success rate of 89 percent, just another key component of this year’s team that starts with the usual two items.

“Pitching and defense, that’s our strength,” Knittle noted. “I’m very proud of this stat … our team ERA is 1.10 and in 150.2 innings we have 101 strikeouts and 30 walks.”

Senior right-hander Ethan Launder has thrown a team-high 55 innings with a 0.88 ERA with sophomore lefty Elijah Vogelsong sporting a 1.90 ERA in 40 innings of work. Junior Bailey Rowe has provided 22 innings on the mound with a 0.30 ERA and senior Reid Shultz 16 innings without allowing an earned run.

Luke Lindamood (Video from 2017), a West Virginia Tech signee, is the vocal leader. The 6-1 210-pound senior catcher has a .288 average batting in the six-hole with a 1.97-2.08 pop time behind the plate.

Vogelsong, who plays right field when not pitching, bats third and tops the team in average at .435 and RBIs with 26. Lauder, a third baseman in addition to pitcher, is hitting .366 with 24 RBIs while Rowe, a second baseman, is at .311.

Speed comes from the duo of Darius Jordan and Brayden Davis. An uncommitted senior, Jordan plays center field and bats second with a .339 average, 14 RBIs and 21-23 on stolen bases. Davis, a junior who plays left field, has a .500 on-base percentage batting leadoff with a .267 average and 21 stolen bases out of 22 attempts.

“Last year we made a run and only lost one kid from that team,” said Knittle, referring to the 2018 squad reaching the state semifinals before losing to Coldwater. “One thing that has surprised me is not so much the stats, defense, pitching or hitting, the biggest thing with these kids is they aren’t satisfied. They bring attitude, intensity and effort day in and day out. It would be easy to get a big head, but they’ve stayed humble.

“We just need to continue to come out, play hard and keep hitting the ball and our defense and pitching has to stay strong. We just need to fine-tune everything and keep it going.”