Coach Brad Ganor's Wildcats are gearing up for what is always the biggest week of the regular season, a five-game stretch that begins with Tuesday's match up against West Side rival St. Edward at Baldwin Wallace University and an intriguing Wednesday game in Classic Park versus one of the hottest teams in Ohio – Kenston. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The week is culminated by the annual Ohio Jesuit Baseball Tournament on Saturday and Sunday at Classic Park.
Saint Ignatius (11-5), which brings a six-game winning streak into this week's action and has produced 28 hits and 18 runs in its last two games combined (see the corner's stories from last week), will begin Jesuit Tournament play on
Saturday morning at 10 against perennial state power Walsh Jesuit. Saturday will also include a game against one of Cincinnati's all-time best - St. Xavier. Saint Ignatius and St. Xavier are expected to match skills at 5:30 p.m.
The 'Cats will wrap up Jesuit Tournament play on Sunday at 12:30 versus St. John's Jesuit. And win or lose, you always walk away remembering those Titans from Toledo.
Here is a look at this week's opponents.
St. Edward: The Eagles, under the direction of new head coach Joe Kasl, entered this week’s action with a .500 record against a demanding schedule. St. Edward was defeated by Midview, 9-4, at Bohlken Park on Friday, a game that saw the Eagles draw nine walks and leave 12 runners on base. Coach Kasl, who features a very capable and big-game tested
offense, got a solid effort out of his bullpen from Darien Knowles, who struck out seven in three innings of work against Midview’s talented Middies.
Kenston: Coach Bob Ford’s 12-1 club took a nine-game winning streak into this week’s play. Kenston, which will make the short trip to Classic Park on Wednesday, features a one-through-six batting order that has been clutch
all spring. Coach Ford also has a number of strong arms, including senior right-hander Sherman Kruger, a Walsh University recruit.
Among some of Kenston’s run producers are outfielder/pitcher Dalton Yost, who is hitting nearly .400, Adam Bush, Sean O’Connor, Austin Shoda, Anthony Hajdu and Pete Rozman. Yost, who is a transfer from Rock Canyon High School in Littleton, Colorado, had three RBIs in Kenston’s 6-5 victory over Chardon in Progressive Field on Friday. The above mentioned names and several others had Kenston ranked second to Mentor in The News Herald’s weekly Top of the Crop on Friday. Some veteran Kenston fans are whispering that this team’s approach reminds them of the program’s regional-final clubs of ’02 and ’04.
Walsh Jesuit: The Warriors’ history speaks for itself – Division II state champs in 2008, ’06, ’04 and ’99, Division II state runners-up in 2009 and ’10 and seven national rankings since 2004. And yes, veteran Coach Chris Kaczmar has another solid team this spring, one that is sprinkled with tough outs and live arms.
Walsh Jesuit, which stood 14-2 after the weekend’s play, is currently a Division I club and is ranked 15th in the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association’s big-school state poll. Among some of the mainstays for Coach Kaczmar are senior catcher/pitcher Cassidy Brown and University of Cincinnati pitching recruit Joe Mockbee. A southpaw, Mockbee entered this week with a 4-0 record. Last year, Mockbee limited opponents to a .231 average and struck out 22 in 23 innings.
As for Brown, Wildcats baseball fans should know the name well by now. A four-year varsity mainstay, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Brown has been ranked as the top college prospect in Ohio by MaxPreps and the eighth-best talent in the Buckeye State by Prep Baseball Report. Coming off a season in which he hit .432 with five home runs and 29 RBI, Brown has accepted a scholarship from Loyola Marymount of the West Coast Conference. Senior right-handed pitcher and Walsh University recruit Mark Mittiga, Blake Jenkins, Riley Minorik, Ryan Feltner and Gino Sassano are among some of the other names to mark down. Feltner is not only a capable hitter, but also has plenty of potential as a 6-2 right-handed sophomore pitcher. His 85-plus mph capability and smooth delivery are quite impressive for a 10th grader.
St. Xavier: Some of the Queen City’s baseball aficionados are saying this might be a bit of a down year for St. Xavier. This old-timer is not buying it.
St. Xavier starts swinging the bats on the way off the bus and you can be sure it will come into Classic Park wanting to prove a point.
St. X did suffer a 14-1 loss to defending Division I state champion Archbishop Moeller last week. Moeller is ranked second to Mason in the coaches’ state poll.
However, St. Xavier rebounded nicely with a 6-3 victory over Elder and an 8-3 triumph over McNicholas, and carried a 9-8 record through Monday.
St. John’s Jesuit: Greg Christian has taken over as the skipper of the Titans after serving as an assistant on the varsity level last spring. Greg came to St. John’s last year after guiding the fortunes of Cardinal Stritch for 27 seasons.
After finishing 21-7 last season and winning a Three Rivers Athletic Conference Championship, the Titans had some rebuilding to do. Well, after a 10-1 start this spring, reloading might be more like it.
Yes, the Titans’ faithful had to say goodbye to four-year mainstays Jesse Adams (9-1 on the mound and a .387 batting average) and Nate Pearson (2012 TRAC batting champion at .487), who have taken their skills to Boston College and the University of Toledo, respectively. St. John’s also graduated standout pitcher/outfielder Joe Robie (3-2, .384 batting average) and current senior Liam Allen, who batted .326 last year, is sidelined after undergoing surgery that resulted from a football injury.
The Titans are not looking for sympathy, however. Coach Christian is getting outstanding play from senior shortstop/relief pitcher Jimmy Scott and senior catcher Corey Tipton. Scott is a three-year starter who, along with his hitting and fielding, has pitched eight innings of relief, striking out 15 and yielding just one hit. Tipton's work behind the dish has earned him a scholarship to the University of Toledo.
St. John's is also blessed with three solid junior starting pitchers in 6-4 right-hander Nolan Silbrhorn, southpaw Collin Korte and 6-3 right-hander Jacek Cserwinski. Silbrhorn entered this week with a 1-1 record, his loss coming in a 1-0 game in which he yielded just an infield single. Korte is 2-0 with an ERA of 1.71 and through Monday Cserwinski had 17 strikeouts in 15 innings of work.
This is a solid program, my friends. As the 10-1 start indicates, St. John’s is manufacturing enough runs and getting the starting pitching needed to still make opponents remember the day or night they played the Titans.
****SIBN: The Saint Ignatius Broadcasting Network, led by El Presidente John Fanta ’13 and veteran Greg Ziton ’13, and the rest of the “Crew for You,” will broadcast Saint Ignatius baseball all week. Here is the schedule.
Tuesday: Versus St. Edward at Baldwin Wallace University. Coverage beginning at 4:15 (no live video).
Wednesday: Versus Kenston at Classic Park. Coverage beginning at 4:15.
Saturday: The Ohio Jesuit Tournament from Classic Park.
Walsh Jesuit vs. Saint Ignatius at 10:00 a.m.
Walsh Jesuit vs. St. John’s Jesuit at 12:30 p.m.
St. John’s Jesuit vs. St. Xavier at 3:00 p.m.
St. Xavier vs. Saint Ignatius at 5:30 p.m.
Sunday: Saint Ignatius vs. St. John’s Jesuit at 12:30 p.m.
****Here is a breakdown on where the Wildcats’ other spring sports teams will be playing this week and weekend.
TRACK AND FIELD: The Wildcats, who have finished first in their last two meets (the Miele Invitational and the Amherst Comet Relays), will travel to Thomas Worthington High School on Saturday for the Gary Smith Invitational. According to the schedule on the athletics pages, competition will begin at high noon.
LACROSSE: Coming off a dominant 11-1 victory at St. John’s Jesuit, ‘Cats Lax (8-1) travels to Massillon Jackson on Wednesday night (7) and will face St. Charles Prep on Wasmer Field Saturday at 1 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL: The ‘Cats will dig, block, spike, score and serve with precision against Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Wednesday night (7 p.m. for varsity) in Sullivan Gymnasium and will travel to Archbishop Hoban on Saturday night for a 6:30 match.
RUGBY: According to the athletics page schedules, it’s Midwest action on Saturday and Sunday at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Indiana.
TENNIS: Ah yes, another busy week for Coach Barker and Co. – Wednesday at North Canton Hoover, Thursday versus University School at Magnificat and Friday versus St. Edward at Magnificat.
CREW: As per the Crew athletics page schedule, it is the St. Mary’s Crew Classic in Orchard Lake (MI) – May 3-4.
NOTE: We’re looking forward to seeing another example of outstanding student body support at Baldwin Wallace University tomorrow. Have a great week and weekend everyone.