HARTSVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - Saint Ignatius head baseball coach Brad Ganor said it over and over while addressing his team outside the fence along the first -base line.

“Setting the tone, setting the tone,” Coach Ganor said, moments after senior right-hander Jack McLinden led the Wildcats past Archbishop Spalding, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon during the opening round of the talent-laden Southeastern Baseball Classic in atmosphere-rich Jimmy White Park. “I want to be playing in the last game on Saturday, not the first game.”

If Saint Ignatius does advance to Saturday’s championship game, it can look back on McLinden’s dominant performance as the key that opened the title door.

In improving to 2-0 on the season and 10-0 for his varsity career, the 6-foot-5 Bucknell University recruit was flawless for five innings and mentally tough and savvy over the final two innings. He limited the always-strong Cavaliers to three hits, struck out eight and walked two.

As impressive as McLinden was in the early going, it was his determination to go the distance that came to the fore in the sixth and seventh innings.

In facing situations in which Archbishop Spalding (7-4) had runners on second and third with just one out in the bottom half of both frames, McLinden walked away victorious after yielding just one run off a 6-3 groundout in the seventh. Both he and Coach Ganor described his performance as the best in his four-year varsity career.

The Wildcats (4-0), who were coming off an 8-5 victory over a heavy-hitting Mayfield team, scored their three runs in the top of the first inning. The key blows were a sacrifice fly RBI by senior third baseman Mike Burke, a line-drive single by senior shortstop Dave Gallagher, a groundout by junior catcher Cory Finkler that brought home the second run, and a two-out run-producing single by junior designated hitter Tyler Kette

Coach Ganor also singled out the defense played by his infield.

Burke, a University of Buffalo recruit, made a big-league play on a slow chopper to end the sixth inning and junior first baseman Mike Horejsei made a nice stop on a line drive for the second out in the bottom of the fifth.

We will give you more highlights from the ‘Cats’ impressive victory after tonight’s opening ceremonies.