Get to Nancy Creek, Say Canes Lefties

Early last season against Northside-Columbus, Cartersville pitcher Ben Dittmer loaded the bases with no outs, prompting a visit to the mound by head coach Stuart Chester. The words stayed with Dittmer.          

“I’m gonna tell you somethin’,” said Chester, whose teams took half of its classes’ state titles last decade, “You can’t hit. You can’t run. You can’t catch. If you can’t throw strikes and pitch, you’re not gonna play Cartersville baseball.”

Message received. Not an overpowering pitcher, Dittmer nevertheless struck out the next batter, forced a grounder and out at home, and then another strikeout.

He can smile about the conversation now. “I went on to have a pretty good year,” he says of a 7-3 record and 1.71 ERA campaign.

Playing “since he could hold a baseball,” Dittmer and fellow senior Sam Howard comprise the lefty pitching for the Canes staff. On Thursday night Howard and reliever Connor Justus no-hit the Dalton Catamounts in Cartersville’s opening game of the region 10-0. Dittmer gave up only one hit and struck out two in a tight March 8 battle with AAAAA Parkview that ultimately handed the Canes a 5-4 loss in extra innings.

Speaking together, their answers run the same gamut when it comes to their favorite sport. Neither is going to steamroll batters, instead opting for changeups and off-speed stuff designed to get batters out even if it doesn’t impress a radar gun. Dittmer’s favorite pitch is a changeup, while Howard prefers a curveball.

“I work to remember the things I’ve always been taught,” says Howard in preparing for a game.

“Know what you have to do before you get there in every situation,” adds Dittmer.

That preparation has been ongoing, with Dittmer over the years wearing out numerous tennis balls thrown repeatedly against a square of duct tape on the wall in the family garage. Ever since he was little, Howard has thrown regular baseballs – sometimes weighted – against a single dot on a blue tarp. “I’d do that over and over and over,” he says.

As with many (okay, most?) baseball players, superstitions reign. Dittmer has to get dressed in the same order for every game. The smallest infraction requires a do-over. Ditto for Howard. “If something feels different I’m wondering what I did wrong,” laughs Dittmer. “It’s bad.”

A warm-up routine that began last year has become integral to pregame preparation. Both partner up together and throw from 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 feet before working their way back in. At 60 feet, they stop and each throws two changeups, one more throw and then in to the dugout.

“Lefties have to stick together,” said Dittmer.

Each a highly-regarded player in his own right, Dittmer points out the team’s ultimate goal, one that doesn’t surprise observers given the Canes’ recent success in reaching it.

“We want to get to Nancy Creek,” he says, alluding to the creek near Richard Bell Field that has served for numerous celebratory team splashdowns.

“The only goal is a state championship,” adds Howard.