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Recap of Saint Ignatius versus Benedictine in varsity baseball

By Eddie Dwyer, 05/13/09, 12:00AM EDT

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His coach, Brad Ganor, described it as a performance that “gives us a lot of confidence going into the tournament.’’

Saint Ignatius right-hander Luke Farrell, standing tall and confident on the mound in Nobby’s Ballpark, flirted with perfection Wednesday evening and then displayed the grit that goes hand-in-hand with all No. 1 starters.

The Wildcats, with Farrell limiting a solid Benedictine team to just one hit and the offense finding a way against the Bengals’ crafty senior left-hander Matt Thomas, came away with a 2-0 victory on the campus of Case Western Reserve University.

Saint Ignatius, a.k.a. the “Road Warriors,’’ improved to 19-6 after playing its 24th road game of the season.

Benedictine, whose starting lineup features four sophomores and four juniors, slipped to 14-9.

Farrell, who threw five perfect innings before Bengals sophomore second baseman Tim Szalay led off the bottom of the sixth with a single through the left side of the infield, quickly focused the attention on his teammates.

“I had great defense behind me the whole day,’’ said Farrell, a son of Boston Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. “That’s the reason they didn’t have a hit (through five). I wasn’t striking out that many guys. They’re very aggressive hitters around the zone.’’

In improving his record to 6-2, Farrell threw 78 pitches, struck out three and did not walk a batter. As near flawless as the 6-foot-6, 200-pound senior was in the first five innings, it was his composure or mental toughness, if you will, in the bottom of the sixth that left a lasting impression on his coaches, teammates and a couple of old timers – Fr. Jack Murphy and yours truly.

After Szalay’s single and an error, Coach Brian Sliwinski’s Bengals had runners on first and second with no outs and trailing, 1-0.

Farrell, a Northwestern baseball recruit, was more than equal to the challenge as he set down the next three batters on a strikeout off a bunt attempt that was fouled off with two strikes, an unassisted putout at first base by senior Brian Lawless and a pop up in short right field that was snagged by junior second baseman Mike Burke. Burke’s catch came after the runners had moved up to second and third on Lawless’ putout.

With one out and nobody on in the top of the seventh, the Wildcats gave Farrell some insurance after junior right fielder Jesse Franklin drove a ball to deep right-center field for a triple. Senior catcher Chet Lauer, who has played solid baseball over the last month, followed with a line-drive RBI single off the first baseman’s glove.

Franklin, who roamed the spacious right field in Nobby’s Ballpark for four putouts, ran down a ball near the foul line and made a nice one-handed grab for the second out in the bottom of the seventh.

“Brad Clement (senior shortstop) and Jesse Franklin made every play that came to them out there,’’ Farrell said. “That’s the reason we won today. The biggest thing for me was not letting a hitter get away from me. It was just great to be able to come out and pound the zone, and make them try to beat me with their bats instead of me beating myself up with walks and hit batsmen.’’

Coach Ganor, who all season has stressed the importance of being able to play “small ball,’’ watched his team do just that in taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth.

Burke led off with a sharp single to left-center field and Franklin bunted him over to second base. Burke then stole third base as the next batter was striking out and, with two outs, senior outfielder Brian Cavanaugh beat out a perfectly executed bunt to the right side for an RBI.

“Luke was fabulous,’’ said Ganor, who also had nothing but praise for Benedictine and Thomas (4-3), who scattered six hits and left Wildcat base runners stranded at third in both the first and second innings. “I think (Luke) threw to the park a little bit. It’s a big park, let them swing the bat. And those kids could swing it.

“This has been a solid week for us. We had two very good offensive performances the first two days (at Stow and at Midview) and today we came out and did the little things. Brian Cavanaugh’s bunt was huge.’’

The Wildcats, last year’s Division I state runner-up, will look to keep the aluminum firing and the arms flowing when they face either Lincoln-West or Maple Heights in a sectional final on Friday at 4:30 p.m. on Talty Field in the Brookside Reservation. Lincoln-West travels to Maple Heights tomorrow (Thursday) for a 4:30 p.m. sectional semifinal.

Some old West Senate flavor; ‘Cats will face Lincoln-West in Friday’s sectional final (posted on 5/14/09 at 8:15 p.m.).

The visiting Lincoln-West Wolverines made themselves right at home on Thursday evening and feasted on the Maple Heights Mustangs, 20-3, in a Division I sectional-semifinal baseball game. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Putting seven runs on the board in both the second and fourth innings, Lincoln-West improved to 7-6 and advanced to Friday’s sectional final against top-seeded Saint Ignatius (19-6). The first pitch from Talty Field in the Brookside Reservation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Coached by the Casselberrys, head coach Tom and assistant coach Tim, the Wolverines rode a home run by junior shortstop and tri-captain Manny Rodriguez to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Rodriguez sent Mr. Rawlings over the left-field fence on a belt-high fastball.

The top of the second was the first of two nightmare innings for Maple Heights (2-12), as Lincoln-West sent 12 batters to the plate. After Rodriguez’s RBI single pushed the lead to 5-0, the Mustangs went on to walk three consecutive batters, commit two errors on the same play, throw a wild pitch and walk three more batters. The errors resulted in two runs and two of the walks came with the bases loaded.

A two-run single by Rodriguez, an RBI double againt the fence in left field by sophomore third baseman Brian Ruiz, an opposite-field RBI single by left-handed hitting sophomore designated hitter Fernando Perez, and a run-scoring double to the gap in left-center by senior second baseman Estervin Tejeda did most of the damage in the seven-run fourth. All of those hits came after two outs.

Coach Ganor and wife Nicole welcome t