Chillicothe, Ohio – Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior second baseman Dan Rowbottom enjoys success as much as any baseball player ever to wear the Wildcats’ Blue and Gold.
That said, Rowbottom, a three-year varsity mainstay and one of Coach Brad Ganor’s four captains this spring, took a calm approach after Saint Ignatius started its very promising 2013 season with back-to-back losses.
And that mental approach, along with a bat and glove that have earned Rowbottom a scholarship to Illinois, helped play a major role in the Wildcats’ impressive bounce back performance on Friday in the “We Can Play”
First Pitch Classic at baseball atmosphere-rich V. A. Memorial Stadium.
“Well obviously it’s huge,” said Rowbottom of Saint Ignatius’ victories over Bishop Watterson and Grove City on Friday. “This was something that we dealt with last year, too, when we were 3-5. The returning starters knew it wasn’t panic time. But today was especially big for the younger guys, to get a feeling that we’re never out of a game. It’s kind of cool that they got a little victory taste and now they believe it too.”
Don’t try telling the faithful from Grove City there was anything small about the loss Coach Ganor’s team laid on the highly regarded Greyhounds.
After rallying from a 2-0, first-inning deficit and defeating Bishop Watterson, 6-3, in Friday’s first game, the Wildcats (2-2) put together one of the most impressive responses in the long and successful history of Saint Ignatius baseball.
In stunning Grove City, 13-2, the Wildcats, trailing, 2-0, scored all 13 of their runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The game was called after the top of the fifth because of the state’s 10-run mercy rule.
The 13-run outburst saw Coach Ganor’s team send 18 batters to the plate in the fabulous fourth. Yes, 18 batters took their cuts in just one inning against a Greyhounds program that advanced to the Division I state final four in 2011 and 2012, and has won 20 or more games over the past four seasons.
"We were up against the wall,” said Coach Ganor of the Grove City game. “They had us off balance and it seemed like they were taking it to us a little bit. They were hitting the ball all over the place and we weren’t
doing anything. Something just clicked.
"The score will not reflect how good Grove City is,” Coach Ganor continued. “It truly won’t. That pitcher (Greyhounds starter Josh Schaffer) dominated us for three innings. And we basically scored most of those
runs off the same guy. So I don’t think it was reflective of what Grove City is capable of doing, but it is reflective of what we’re capable of doing.”
Saint Ignatius did a little bit of everything in the bottom of the fourth and it all started with junior right fielder/pitcher and Miami of Ohio recruit Nick Longo lining a single into left field with one out and nobody
on base.
Junior third baseman Quillen Austria followed Longo’s effort by beating out an infield hit and, after junior outfielder/pitcher Shane Skuhrovec loaded the bases by drawing a walk, there was a bit of a hush over the
Greyhounds’ side of the field.
That hush turned to silence when senior designated hitter Kevin Hagen delivered an RBI off a line drive to right field that tailed away from the outfielder. An errant pick-off attempt knotted the score at 2 and the ‘Cats took the lead on an authoritative line drive single to left-center field by junior first baseman Joe Khoury.
After the runners advanced on a pitch in the dirt, Rowbottom, who swung a hot bat all day, lined a single into center for Saint Ignatius’ fourth run. The fifth run came around to score when Grove City’s center fielder had difficulty picking up the baseball.
Following a stolen base by Rowbottom, senior captain and shortstop Tyler Finkler, who made some outstanding momentum-swinging plays in the field, pushed his team’s lead to 6-2 with a base hit to right center.
Two fielding errors by the Greyhounds loaded the bases again and the Wildcats completed their 13-run barrage with bases-full walks to Longo and Austria, another fielding error by Grove City, a sharp run-scoring grounder to the right side by Hagen and more damage by Khoury and Rowbottom, who left no
doubt with back-to-back RBI singles.
Junior Nick Fabian, a five-tool player in the field, made his first varsity start and scattered seven hits over five innings.
"That was their first game today and our second, so that says something,” said Rowbotttom, who referred to the Wildcats’ lineup as having many interchangeable parts.
Khoury, who put together two solid offensive games, said he was more relaxed on Friday.
"With these two wins today, we can build off of it and hopefully come out tomorrow and sweep again,” Khoury said of Saint Ignatius’ doubleheader at Dublin Jerome on Saturday, which begins at 11 a.m.
SAINT IGNATIUS 6, BISHOP WATTERSON 3: The Wildcats’ first rally of the afternoon started in the top of the second, when some small ball enabled them to tie the score at 2.
It was a four-run fourth, some strong recovery work by junior southpaw starter Nick Margevicius and solid performances out of the bullpen by Skuhrovec and Longo that eventually told the tale and keyed the ‘Cats’
first triumph of 2013. The four-run fourth featured an RBI double down the left-field line by Khoury and a two-run single up the middle by Rowbottom, who went 3-for-3 in the first game.