It was only appropriate that a cool, but calm breeze swept across the outfield at Westlake High School on Wednesday night as Saint Ignatius' David Deliz was talking about his effort on the mound.
In helping the Wildcats to an impressive season-opening victory over the Westlake Demons, the 6-foot-3 senior right-hander was never more composed.
With Deliz throwing five shutout innings and Saint Ignatius' bats ringing early, the 'Cats handed the always-solid Demons a 10-1 loss under the lights.
"The fastball looked good," Deliz said, referring to his pitch of choice on Wednesday night. "The umpire gave me the strikes I wanted. My change-up, that is something I have to work on. It felt like I was kind of pushing it too much. I didn't really let it flow out of my hand.
"And the curveball surprised me. It looked pretty good and I felt comfortable throwing it."
Deliz was relaxed and confident from the get-go, as he took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the first inning.
Saint Ignatius, which set a school record in 2009 by advancing to the Division I state final four for the third consecutive season, silenced the Westlake faithful before the sun started to set and the lights were turned on.
Senior tri-captain and left fielder Kevin Hopkins led off the game by lining a single to left field. He promptly stole second base, then stole third with one out and came home on an RBI single to left by standout senior third baseman Mike Burke. A Plain Dealer seven-county All-Star in '09, Burke set a school mark last season by hitting .573.
After Burke stole second, senior shortstop and tri-captain Dave Gallagher said goodbye to Mr. Rawlings by sending a 2-1 fastball over the fence in front of the scoreboard in center field. Other highlights in the top of the first included a walk and a stolen base by junior catcher Cory Finkler.
Deliz, who was 4-1 last season with 22 strikeouts in 24 innings pitched, recorded two of his six Ks in the bottom of the first. In his commanding five innings of work, he yielded three hits, two of which were scratch infield singles. The only hard hit ball was a two-out, nobody-on double by Demons senior first baseman Robert Davidson in the bottom of the second. Deliz promptly ended that threat by enticing a 4-3 ground out that brought a noticeable grin to the face of Wildcats pitching coach T.J. Donovan '94.
"Coach (Brad) Ganor emphasized that (Westlake) is a team that fights back," Deliz said of his victory over the Demons, who under 21-year skipper Jeff Short have been one of the most consistently successful baseball programs in the area.
"It is something I was told, starting this game," Deliz continued, in reference to the Demons' success on the diamond. "The coaches said this was my time to set the tempo for the rest of the pitchers, to go right after them and throw strikes. That's what I did, and it felt good doing it."
Playing the aggressive style of baseball Coach Ganor covets, Saint Ignatius' opportunistic hitters were feeling good right along with Deliz.
The 'Cats, who travel to Gilmour Academy today (Thursday) for a 4:30 p.m. matchup with the Lancers, combined another base hit by Burke, a sacrifice bunt by Gallagher, a two-out walk by junior right fielder Neal Jacobs, an errant pick-off attempt and a sharp grounder off the bat of junior designated hitter Tyler Kette into two more runs in the third.
A leadoff single and a stolen base by senior center fielder Kory Gillissie and a one-out, line-drive RBI double down the left-field line by junior first baseman Mike Horejsei keyed a three-run fourth.
Finkler's two-out sinking line drive to right made it 9-0 in the sixth and the Gallaghers had more to celebrate as Dave's brother, Colin, a junior infielder in his first season on the varsity, came up with a base hit to right center in the seventh, advanced to second on a passed ball and came around to score on a two-out base hit by Hopkins.
Saint Ignatius 6-5 sophomore left-hander Zak Shockley struck out three in pitching a scoreless bottom of the sixth and 6-7 junior right-hander Mason Halter pitched out of trouble in the bottom of the seventh.
"A shutout would have been nice, but all in all, for the first day out on a field I'm pretty happy," said Ganor, who began his sixth season as the Wildcats' head coach with his 120th career victory. "All we have seen is Sullivan Gymnasium. That was their No. 1 (pitcher) and that is pretty much what we are going to see all season – everybody's No. 1."
Coach Ganor said he will send 6-5 senior right-hander and tri-captain Jack McLinden to the mound today at Gilmour and that Deliz will come back on Monday to face the Mayfield Wildcats in a noon game at Mayfield. McLinden, a Bucknell University recruit, was 4-0 last season with 21 strikeouts in 22.1 innings pitched.