Trailing, 4-0, entering the bottom of the seventh, Saint Ignatius stuns the Warriors with five runs in Saturday morning's opening game of the talent-laden Ohio Jesuit Tournament at Classic Park.
Cole Nieto, Quillen Austria and Joe Khoury provide the crucial hits, with Austria sending a game-tying, two-run double down the right-field line off a fastball down and away, and Khoury coming up with a single through the right side for the game winner.
The Wildcats took a nine-game winning streak into Saturday night's match up with Cincinnati St. Xavier, which the Bombers won, 6-3. A recap on the St. Xavier game follows the Saint Ignatius-Walsh Jesuit game story.
*With Saturday's split, the 'Cats will take a record of 14-6 into Sunday's OJT finals against Toledo St. John's Jesuit. According to Saint Ignatius' tournament program, the first pitch from Classic Park on Sunday is high noon. Sunday's other OJT final will match St. Xavier (14-9) against Walsh Jesuit (16-4) at Walsh Jesuit, with the first pitch listed as 12:30 p.m.
LAKE COUNTY - Saint Ignatius' junior infielder Quillen Austria had just come up with the biggest hit of his young baseball career.
However, in what was a very sincere and humble manner, Austria said he didn't know what to say.
The young man they call "Q" sure knew what to do.
Austria, called on to pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh inning with no outs and the bases loaded, delivered a scorching liner over first base and down the right-field for a two-run double that tied the score and came home on junior first baseman Joe Khoury's one-out, game-winning single through the right side, as the Wildcats overcame a four-run deficit against Walsh Jesuit and defeated the Warriors, 5-4, in Saturday's annual Ohio Jesuit Tournament at Classic Park in Eastlake.
The heroics provided by Austria and Khoury, which came against Walsh Jesuit's senior ace Joe Mockbee, were part of what Saint Ignatius' veteran head coach Brad Ganor described as one of the biggest innings in the Wildcats' rich baseball history.
"I had no idea," said Austria after being told that his dramatic hit came against a left-hander who is bound for the University of Cincinnati on a baseball scholarship. "I just went up there trying to get the job done, trying to just put the ball in play and make them make a play. I guess it happened. Walsh is a great team and it was a great game."
Describing Saturday's annual Ohio Jesuit Tournament encounter between the Warriors and the Wildcats as "great" is no exaggeration.
Walsh Jesuit, ranked among the state's best in this past week's Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association's Division I poll, rode the pitching of sophomore left-hander Ty Shoaff and a three-run top of the seventh to its 4-0 lead. Shoaff entered the game with a record of 3-0.
The key at-bats in the Warriors' seventh were a leadoff single by sophomore first baseman Ryan Feltner, a sacrifice bunt by sophomore designated hitter Connor Regan, an RBI single to left center by sophomore second baseman Riley Minorik and a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by junior infielder Kyle Holdsworth. Walsh Jesuit also took advantage of a throwing error off a relay that saw the ball end up in the Warriors' dugout.
"I would think so," said Coach Ganor, when asked if he thought Saturday was one of the greatest comebacks in his nine seasons as the Wildcats' head coach. "I was thinking when it was 4-2 that OK, they fought and battled, and that I would have been pretty proud of them. The fact that they were able to put an inning like that together against one of the top teams in the state just shows that this team is special.
"It was exciting that we were able to win the game," Coach Ganor continued. "But it's even more exciting to see guys get opportunities and perform. These guys are coming in during huge situations and producing."
After being kept off-balance by Shoaff for most of the first six innings, Saint Ignatius again found the inner strength that has epitomized its nine-game winning streak.
Senior center fielder and captain Conor Hennessey, whose grit and baseball savvy are evident on almost every play, led off the bottom of the seventh by taking one for the team. Five-tool junior left fielder Nick Fabian then lined a 3-2 pitch into left center putting runners on first and second.
Junior right-hander Tim Benner replaced Shoaff on the mound and was greeted by a single from junior right fielder and Miami of Ohio recruit Nick Longo.
With the bases loaded and no outs, senior third baseman Cole Nieto, who turned in another solid day at the hot corner, followed with an RBI single through the left side. An error on the relay throw allowed Fabian to score the 'Cats' second run and also saw Longo and Nieto advance to third base and second base, respectively.
Versatile junior designated hitter Shane Skuhrovec then drew a walk, setting the stage for the memorable swings by Austria and Khoury. Mockbee came out of the Warriors' bullpen after the walk to Skuhrovec.
"It was huge that we got it started with the other guys, obviously," said Khoury of his game winner. "For my at bat, I was looking for something I could elevate. I wanted something higher in the zone, so I could elevate it for a sac fly. But it got through the infield, so ---. OJT (Ohio Jesuit Tournament) against Walsh, it's huge."
Along with the big hits, Saint Ignatius got a gutsy performance from junior left-hander Nick Margevicius.
In going the distance and improving to 5-0 on the season, Margevicius yielded five hits, walked one and struck out four.
ST. XAVIER 6, SAINT IGNATIUS 3: The Bombers jumped on the Wildcats for four runs in the top of the first inning in a Classic Park match up that didn't end until almost 9 p.m.
The big hits for St. Xavier in the first inning were a one-out RBI single to left field by sophomore shortstop Jonathon Deifel and a two-out, two-run single to right by sophomore left fielder Justin Hilliard.
A member of Cincinnati's Greater Catholic League, the Bombers took advantage of two walks, a fielder's choice and a wild pitch in making it a 5-0 game in the top of the third.
Saint Ignatius, looking for their second comeback on Saturday, scored three times in the bottom of the third. Promising sophomore catcher Alex Panstares got the Wildcats' offense started with a solo home run to left field and senior captain and center fielder Conor Hennessey would cut the deficit to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.
Panstares had two hits and a walk on the night and he also threw out two runners attempting to steal second base.
With Saint Ignatius' senior right-hander and captain Kyle Pluta keeping the Wildcats in the game with a strong effort out of the bullpen, Coach Brad Ganor's team threatened in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
However, St. Xavier, which got some nice relief work from Ryan Shaw, put up an insurance run in the top of the seventh courtesy of another RBI single by Deifel.
Saint Ignatius, which outhit the Bombers, 11-7, had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh after Hennessey beat out an infield hit and junior left fielder Nick Fabian singled to right field.
Shaw was equal to challenge, however, as he ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
"We've talked for weeks about how the mark of a good team is how they fight and come back," said Coach Ganor. "And I firmly believe that the mark of a great team is a team that can come back tomorrow and start over again. That's what good baseball teams do and that's what I expect we're going to do tomorrow (Sunday)."