High school baseball: Jay Grissom gets 200th career win as Highland beats Copley

COPLEY TWP. — Jay Grissom is firmly in the conversation among all Medina County coaches, regardless of sport. One can argue that no one hates the spotlight more, preferring with every ounce of his heart that his Highland baseball players get all the credit. The tall, imposing but incredibly down-to-earth Grissom has been consistent, if nothing else. The Hornets remained atop the Suburban League American Conference with a relatively painless 6-2 victory over Copley on Monday, and Grissom did all he could to deflect the accomplishment of his 200th career win. In fact, he refused to talk about it. Starting pitcher Reid Oney (2-1, 2.22 ERA), who struck out 10 in his best start of the season, was more than happy to fill in. "It's humility, man," Oney said. "Humility runs this team." Now 200-126, Grissom inherited a rebuilt program from his former boss, Jeff Rollyson, in 2013 and immediately mentored one of the greatest county hitters of all time, current Seattle Mariners outfielder Luke Raley, who Grissom and wife Amy travel to see play each summer. Highland (13-2, 9-2) also went on a Cinderella run to the 2018 Division I state semifinals, has won two of the last three SL American titles, is virtually guaranteed its eight straight season at .500 or better and boasts a sterling 32-6 record since the beginning of last spring. The Hornets aren't flashy and don't have a system, so to speak, but pride themselves on situational baseball. That was on display Monday, when senior-heavy Highland struggled with early-count curveballs against Indians (6-14, 4-8) starter Javon Owens before erupting for five runs in the game-deciding fourth inning that featured an RBI double from Lucas Gerding and a RBI single from No. 9 hitter Will Rogus. The offense as a whole wasn't overpowering with only five hits, but Colton Winston drove in two runs without a hit, Parker Janickas reached twice, scored twice and made a diving stop at second base in the seventh inning and Gerding and Rogus each had two hits. The Hornets also made Copley pay for four walks and two hit batters. "We got off to a rough start with a couple of mistakes early," Grissom said. "The pitcher kept us off-balance, but the kids kept battling. We found a way to push some runs across (in the fourth) and then found a way to extend the lead (with a run in the sixth)." The rest of the sunny, somewhat brisk afternoon belonged to Oney. The long-striding right-hander fell behind 2-0 after a couple seeing-eye singles led to a run in the second and an interference call at first base allowed the runner at third to score in the third — by rule, the play should have been dead — but he settled down and was virtually unhittable the rest of the way. Part of a four-man, all-senior rotation that also includes Dan Miller (4-0, 0.69 ERA), Joshua Butcher (4-0, 0.00) and Cooper Richnafsky (3-1, 1.91), Oney scattered four hits and struck out six over the final four innings. He appeared to throw harder as the game wore on and had success throwing his slider for strikes. "I had the slider early and was missing with my curveball a little bit, but with the fastball I was starting off and getting 0-1 (in the count)," Oney said. "My slider worked off that. Depending on the batter, you can then work any pitch off that. It was good momentum to get my off-speed to go (for strikes). In past games, I had been struggling." The players were aware of Grissom's milestone during the postgame huddle, chanting "Two-hundred! Two-hundred" as Grissom walked across right field to address them. He then pointed to the dugout when asked for comment, pointing out that he felt Oney was "unbelievable." "We have a bunch of guys who aren't selfish on this team," Oney said. "Maybe in the beginning of the year we were battling through that, but now we're settled in and we're a damn good team." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Highland 6, Copley 2 HIGHLAND &emsp;&emsp;000 501 0 — 6 5 0 COPLEY &emsp;&emsp;011 000 0 — 2 7 4 WP — Reid Oney (2-1) 7 innings, 2 earned runs, walk, hit batter, 10 strikeouts. LP — Javon Owens 4 innings, 5 runs, 4 earned, 2 hits, 4 walks, 2 hit batters, 4 strikeouts. Highland (13-2, 9-2) — Colton Winston walk, 2 RBIs; Lucas Gerding single, double, RBI, run; Parker Janickas single, walk, 2 runs; Will Rogus 2 singles, RBI, run. Copley (6-14, 4-8) — Gavin Miller double; Will Gillberg 2 singles, run.