Saint Ignatius sophomore Zak Shockley realizes it is not going to be a regular occurrence to be presented with the type of run support his teammates gave him on Thursday in Hunting Valley.
That said, the Wildcats' talented 6-foot-5, 210-pound southpaw went about his business and walked away with what we can safely assume will be the first of many victories in his young and promising varsity career.
Saint Ignatius, with Shockley blanking University School over four innings and the Wildcats' offense taking advantage of numerous early opportunities, overwhelmed the host Preppers, 18-0, in a non-league baseball matchup.
The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
“It's great, first start and coming out with a win,'' said Shockley, who limited University School to three singles. “Anytime they're willing to give me the ball, I'm glad to take it.”
Saint Ignatius, which will take an 8-1 record into this weekend's talent-laden Strongsville Dugout Club Tournament, treated Shockley to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, tacked on three more runs in the second and took command with a five-run third inning.
In case there were any doubts, the Wildcats scored six more times in the top of the fourth and put the bats away after a two-run fifth as the Preppers slipped to 4-5.
With a runner on third, Shockley ended the first inning with a strikeout. He started and ended the second inning with strikeouts and in between was the beneficiary of a nice diving stop by junior first baseman Mike Horejsei, an effort that saw Horejsei react quickly and flip the ball to Shockley for the out at first.
US had runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of third. Shockley was equal to the challenge, however, as he coaxed a 1-6 force and a 5-4-3 double play.
After a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, Shockley closed out victory No. 1 with a fly ball to center field that was hauled in by senior Kory Gillissie, a strikeout and a pop out to junior Joe Greco in right field. Marques Pagan, a 6-5 junior right-hander, closed the book in the bottom of the fifth.
“Mainly, after we found out that the umpire had a nice generous outside corner, we were hoping to just sit a couple of fastballs out there and come back with a good curveball, which most of their guys were pretty much chocking up on," Shockley said. "The fastball was feeling good and the curveball had a nice bite on the end of it. That helps a lot.”
The Wildcats, who drew 10 walks and four hit batsmen off Preppers pitching, combined a lead-off base hit by senior left fielder Kevin Hopkins, a stolen base by Hopkins, the first of five errors by US, a stolen base by Horejsei and an RBI single by senior shortstop Dave Gallagher into their early 2-0 lead.
A one-out triple to deep right field by sophomore catcher Andrew Piscioneri, a sacrifice fly by junior second baseman Colin Gallagher, Dave's brother, two-out base hits by Gillissie and Hopkins, a hit batsman and bases-loaded walks to senior third baseman Mike Burke and Dave Gallagher accounted for the three runs in the second.
The Preppers' pitchers continued to have difficulty finding the plate and Saint Ignatius remained aggressive on the base paths. Those factors enabled the 'Cats to score five runs in the third on just two hits – singles by junior outfielder Neal Jacobs and Piscioneri.
Burke's bases-loaded two-run single fueled the six-run fourth and a hustle single by Gillissie, an error, a base hit by Horejsei, a sacrifice fly by Burke and a fielder's choice closed out the scoring in the fifth.
“We geared up for the game because of what happened last year,” said Wildcats coach Brad Ganor, referring to last season's 5-3 loss in Hunting Valley. “But as nice as it is to build confidence with our bats, we need to be prepared for three very, very difficult games this weekend. We're going to see good pitching and we're not going to win games 18-0. We need to stay focus where our approaches at the plate will help us win one- and two-run games.
“Zak did a nice job,” Ganor continued. “It is hard to stay focused when you have long innings like that. Eighteen runs aside, I like that we had a zero on the other side. The zero helps our pitching staff build confidence.”
Saint Ignatius will face host Strongsville and defending Division II state champion Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin in the first round of Saturday's tournament. The Strongsville game is slated for 10:30 a.m., and the first pitch for the NDCL matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Lions of NDCL defeated the 'Cats, 11-4, late last season.
Sunday, Saint Ignatius will take on the talented and baseball-savvy Mentor Cardinals at 12:30 p.m., as they close out their annual trip to Strongsville.
IN OUR THOUGHTS: Our prayers and sympathy go out to Wildcats standout senior center fielder Kory Gillissie and his family upon the recent death of Kory's maternal grandfather, Joe Novak. Kory, one of the classiest young men this corner has ever had the privilege to cover, revealed that Mr. Novak put seven boys through Saint Ignatius. Kory also shared with us that shortly after his grandfather's death, his grandmother, Rita Novak, said: “Now there is one more angel in the outfield.”
SURE HANDS, ON AND OFF THE FIELD: If you happened to notice that wide smile on Zach Seybert's face during Thursday's pre-game warmups, it is because the Wildcats' senior infielder displayed his soft hands at Progressive Field earlier in the day by catching Shin-Soo Choo's game-winning three-run home run against the Texas Rangers, a blast that helped put an end to the Indians' five-game losing streak. Zach and his teammates attended the Tribe game as part of their “Baseball Literature” class.