The Mayfield Wildcats entered Monday afternoon's home game against Saint Ignatius with a reputation of being a big-inning team with a lineup of heavy hitters, one through nine.

Well, Saint Ignatius, a team that is no stranger to big innings and the role they play in this fickle game we love, silenced the partisan crowd along Wilson Mills Road shortly after high noon.

The C-Town 'Cats, with senior left fielder Kevin Hopkins and senior third baseman Mike Burke setting the tone, scored five times in the top of the first inning and went on to defeat Mayfield's Wildcats, 8-5, in a matchup of two of the area's premier Division I baseball programs.

Saint Ignatius, which stunned Mayfield's No. 1 starter Lee Longo with a lead-off blast by Hopkins that soared over the right-center field fence and a two-run authoritative drive by Burke that sent Mr. Rawlings rocketing over the righ-field fence, improved to 3-0.

Mayfield, which had been doing a number on opposing pitchers, slipped to 4-1.

“It relieved my stress level a little bit, I know that,” said Saint Ignatius head coach Brad Ganor, referring to his team's fast start. “We had this game circled on our schedule. We set it up like this (a game at Mayfield and then a trip to South Carolina to face four strong out-of-state teams) to see what we were made of early.”

So far, so good.

After Hopkins' first career home run on the varsity level, Saint Ignatius' dugout was alive with enthusiasm.

That confidence grew even stronger after Burke's touch-'em-all-time swing and, following a too-hot-to-handle grounder off the bat of senior shortstop Dave Gallagher, an errant pick-off attempt, a one-out line drive to right field by junior designated hitter Tyler Kette that went for a base hit and an error, and a two-out RBI single by junior right fielder Joe Greco, Mayfield was playing uphill for the first time in this young season.

Coach Don Ramer's Wildcats would answer with a run in the bottom of the first, scoring on a single by Longo that was preceded by a two-out walk and a stolen base by senior center fielder and Ohio State recruit Tim Wetzel.

Saint Ignatius, which will face Maryland power Archbishop Spalding on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. in Hartsville, S.C., came right back with two runs in the top of the second. Hopkins led off the inning with base hit, junior first baseman Mike Horejsei laid down a text-book sacrifice bunt and Burke delivered an RBI double to deep left field, After Gallagher was hit by a pitch, Burke stole third and scored on a throwing error.

Mayfield, whose field was in perfect condition, closed to 7-2 in the bottom of the second, only to watch Saint Ignatius push its lead to 8-2 on a double off the fence in right center by senior second baseman Zach Seybert leading off the third, another errant pick-off attempt and a perfectly executed suicide-squeeze bunt by senior center fielder Kory Gillissie.

Senior right-hander David Deliz, putting together his second strong performance in as many outings, threw 79 pitches in four complete innings of work. He yielded two runs, four singles, walked two and struck out eight.

“If feels great, especially knowing the big bats Mayfield has,” said Deliz, who improved to 2-0 on the season and 6-1 in his varsity career. “To be able to throw and control what you have is one of the greatest feelings. I wanted to go one more inning, but that's my fault with my pitch count. I would go from 0-2 and 1-2 counts to 2-2 and 3-2.

“I was ready today, even though I had never done it before on four days rest.”

Although Mayfield managed just one hit off Saint Ignatius' bullpen, Coach Ramer's team sandwiched that hit between two hit batsmen, an error, a sacrifice fly, a walk and another sacrifice fly in scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Trailing, 8-5, Mayfield had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. But Gallagher, a right-hander, was equal to the challenge as he ended the game with his second strikeout of the inning.

Coach Ganor wasn't happy with the nine runners his team left on base and having a base runner picked off on a hit-and-run attempt. He did emphasize to his 'Cats, however, that they passed a “big test” at Mayfield. Saint Ignatius totaled 14 hits on the afternoon.