The Wildcats follow up on Friday's 15-hit performance against Avon Lake in Progressive Field by pounding out 13 more hits on Saturday.
Junior left fielder Nick Fabian goes 4-for-5 in his home town and Coach Brad Ganor's team sets the tempo with a four-run third inning.
Junior southpaw Nick Margevicius improves to 4-0 on the season and the 'Cats get some strong work out of the bullpen from junior right-hander Shane Skuhrovec and sophomore right-hander MJ Nara.
****Up next for Saint Ignatius is Tuesday's highly anticipated match up with rival St. Edward at Baldwin Wallace University. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. St. Edward will be the home team.
****Saint Ignatius' depth comes to the fore again, as Coach Chuck Kyle's varsity track and field team takes first place during Saturday's 58th annual Comet Relays at Amherst Steele High School. The track and field recap follows the baseball story below.
****Congratulations from the corner go out to senior football standouts Tim McVey, Dave Katusha and Kevin Kavalec, who were part of a North team that defeated the South, 33-27, in Saturday's annual North-South Football Classic at Dayton's Welcome Stadium.
McVey's hard-nosed running and blocking helped the North team do its thing on the ground and through the air, and defensive linemen Katusha and Kavalec had their moments in the presuure department. All of the best to Tim (Air Force), Dave (Air Force) and Kevin (Boston College) in their future endeavors.
****And congratulations also go out to Coach Pat McManamon's varsity lacrosse team, which dominated St. John's Jesuit, 11-1, in Toledo on Saturday afternoon. The Lax 'Cats improve to 8-1 heading into Wednesday's game at Massillon Jackson, which is slated for 7 p.m.
Note: St. Edward backed up its top ranking in the state by defeating Saint Ignatius' Varisty A Rugby Team, 22-5, at Wasmer Field on Saturday night. The news was good from Centerville, Ohio where the Wildcats' varsity volleyball team went 2-1 in the Elite Eight. Saint Ignatius defeated Cincinnati Elder, 3-0, and St. Edward, 3-2, and was defeated by Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, 3-1.
Here is Saturday's varsity baseball game story
Strongsville, Ohio - More than capable, versatile and timely.
Those are just some of the words Saint Ignatius' multi-talented junior outfielder Nick Fabian uses when describing the Wildcats' offense.
Less than 24 hours after pounding out 15 hits in an eight-run victory over Avon Lake in Progressive Field, Saint Ignatius traveled to Strongsville on picture-perfect Saturday spring afternoon and showed everyone in attendance just how capable, multi-dimensional and clutch its hitters are.
The Wildcats, who now stand 11-5 after winning their sixth consecutive game, came up with 13 hits against the Mustangs' pitching and turned away the home team, 9-3.
A total of twenty-eight hits and 18 runs in two games. Not that's a healthy weekend my friends.
Saint Ignatius head coach Brad Ganor said he will take 28 hits over two games anytime. However, the veteran skipper also emphasized that it is not the norm for his team, or any high school team, to have such back-to-back production. Coach Ganor prefers to focus on the upcoming week, rather than the current winning streak.
The demanding week ahead includes Tuesday's game against West Side rival St. Edward at Baldwin Wallace University, Wednesday's home game versus Kenston at Classic Park and the annual Ohio Jesuit Tournament at Classic Park over the weekend. The Jesuit Tournament will include games against perennial state baseball fixtures Walsh Jesuit, Toledo St. John's Jesuit and Cincinnati St. Xavier. As always, the corner will preview this coming week's games on Monday as part of the "Where the 'Cats play."
As for Saturday's annual trip to Strongsville, Saint Ignatius combined a one-out base hit by senior shortstop and captain Tyler Finkler and a two-out RBI hustle double by Fabian into a 1-0 lead. It was the first of four hits by Fabian.
It stayed that way until the top of the third, when the Wildcats grabbed the momentum with a four-run inning.
Senior second baseman, captain and Illinois recruit Dan Rowbottom led off the third with an infield hit, took second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Finkler. Senior center fielder and captain Conor Hennessey delivered a run-scoring single up the middle, Fabian lined a single to left center and junior right fielder and Miami of Ohio recruit Nick Longo drove in the 'Cats' third run with a single to right field. Saint Ignatius then took advantage of an error and a wild pitch in pushing its lead to 5-0.
Strongsville, the 2006 Division I state champion, combined a walk, an error, a hit batsman and a sacrifice fly by center fielder Brad Weimken into a run in the bottom of the fourth. Saint Ignatius answered with a run in the top of the fifth that was produced by walk to Hennessey, a single through the right side by Fabian and a sacrifice fly the opposite way by Longo.
The Mustangs, who are now 8-8, got back in the game in the bottom of the fifth.
A leadoff double by left fielder Ryan Frank, a double to the gap in right center by first baseman Tom Krokey and a two-run single up the middle by shortstop Ben Szymezak cut Saint Ignatius' lead to 6-3. Strongsville could have done further damage in the fifth, but with Mustangs on second and third and just one out, Wildcats senior third baseman Cole Nieto snagged a line shot to the hot corner and quickly fired the ball to Finkler, who made a text-book tag in doubling the runner off second.
As they have done throughout their winning streak, Coach Ganor's 'Cats, riding the excitement generated by the Nieto-Finkler double play, responded with two more runs in the top of the sixth and scored the game's final run in their half of the seventh.
A line-drive base hit the opposite way by the left-handed hitting Rowbottom, a base hit by Finkler, another walk to Hennessey, a bases-loaded RBI single by Fabian and an error made it an 8-3 game. Saint Ignatius' ninth run was produced by a two-out walk to Rowbottom, an errant pick-off attempt and an all-out hustle infield hit by Finkler that allowed junior infielder Bennett Kinzel, who was pinch running for Rowbottom, to score from second.
"We're getting it done when it needs to get done," Fabian said of the Wildcats' offense. "Slap hits and getting the RBIs when we need them, that's good baseball."
Fabian, a member of a solid contingent of Wildcats who grew up and still reside in Strongsville, said he knows about "80 percent" of the Mustangs.
"It's always a fun game," Fabian emphasized. "Growing up playing with teams that are from around here, it is always nice to come back and get a win off a lot of your buddies. Having a good day as well is always a nice thing too."
Saint Ignatius' pitching, which has also played a major role in the success of the past two weeks, was efficient again on Saturday.
Junior left-hander Nick Margevicius (4-0) worked five-plus innings, throwing 40 strikes in 60 pitches, junior right-hander Shane Skuhrovec worked two innings, with nine of his 11 pitches resulting in strikes, and sophomore right-hander MJ Nara turned in another 1-2-3 seventh with seven strikes in 12 pitches. Skuhrovec had a four-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth inning.
"All in all, I am happy with what they are doing and how they're playing baseball," said Coach Ganor of his Wildcats. "For the last two weeks, we've played good baseball. We hit well, we pitched well and we played good defense. All in all, that's usually a recipe for success."
'CATS GARNER FIRST PLACE DURING THE 58th ANNUAL COMET RELAYS AT AMHERST
Saint Ignatius finished with 73 points, Medina was second with 56 points and Mentor (55 points) and Brunswick (54 points) placed third and fourth.
Here are the Wildcats highlights.
First place - 4x110 shuttle hurdle, 1:02.06: Pat Jeffries, Jack Hyland, Ian Woidke and Matt McVey.
First place - 4x100 meter relay, 43.92: Mike Zupan, Dan Way, Pat Jeffries and Scott Arthrell.
Second place - 1600 meter run, 4:24.18: Freshman Luke Wagner.
Third place - 4x800 meter relay, 8:09.80: Joe Arquillo, Jack Miller, Jake Maier and Vince Bartram.
Third place - 300 meter hurdles, 40.16: Pat Jeffries.
Fifth place - 110 meter hurdles, 15.60: Matt McVey.
Fifth place - Distance Medley, 11:08.29: John Nemes, Jake Maier, Tim Trentel and Jack Politowicz.
Fifth place - Long Jump Relay, 20-00.75: Mike Schafer.
Sixth place - Discus Relay, 141-04: Corey Griffith.
Tenth place and 13th place - Shot Put Relay: Rick Shurtleff (46-01.00) and Corey Griffith (45-00.00)
Seventh place - 100 meters, 11.67: Dan Way.
Five-way tie for third place - Pole Vault Relay, 13-00.00: Pat Politowicz.
Four-way tie for seventh place - High Jump Relay, 6-00.00: Mike Zupan.
Eighth place - 800 Sprint Medley, 1:37.85: Mike Zupan, Dan Way, Pat Jeffries and Jeff Foerg.