The Comets improve to 4-0 by scoring four times in the bottom of the first inning and responding with four more runs after Saint Ignatius (0-2) cut a six-run deficit in half with a three-run fifth.
In junior varsity play, the JV 'Cats prevailed, 5-1, and now stand 2-0 on the young season.
Up next for the Varsity Wildcats is trip to Chillicothe on Friday for a doubleheader in the "We Can Play" tournament. Saint Ignatius will face Bishop Watterson at 1, followed by a match up with Grove City at 5 p.m. Friday's games are scheduled to be televised on tape delay over Time Warner Cable on Friday night. Check your TV listings to see what portion of the state will be among the viewing audience.
On Saturday, Saint Ignatius will travel to Dublin Jerome High School for a doubleheader against the Celtics. The first pitch is slated for 11 a.m.
****NOTE: If you can't make the trip this weekend, the golden tones of senior John "I haven't seen a curveball I couldn't hit" Fanta will be doing his best Tom Hamilton live over the Saint Ignatius Student Brodcasting Network. John's special press box guest in Chillicothe will be Saint Ignatius President Rev. William J. Murphy, S.J.
Here is the varsity game story from Amherst Steele.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright April 2013
Lorain County – Saint Ignatius head baseball coach Brad Ganor said the Amherst Steele Comets, a team with high expectations this spring, definitely took it to his Wildcats on the Comets’ home field late Wednesday afternoon.
While there are no excuses being offered or accepted, there is no one associated with Wildcats’ baseball that is panicking right now.
Saint Ignatius, a program that sets the expectation bar at a high level every season, slipped to 0-2 after the Comets scored four times in the first inning and went on to a 10-3 victory that has them standing undefeated after four games.
Sure, every Saint Ignatius coach, player and member of its faithful would love to be 2-0 right now. But the operative number is 2. Let’s wait a few weeks before allowing any major concerns to keep us from enjoying
what will eventually be a season of success.
“Don’t worry, we’ll bounce back,” said Wildcats senior captain and Illinois recruit Dan Rowbottom, as he was making his way to the parking lot at Amherst Steele early Wednesday evening.
Coach Ganor and his staff are as confident as Rowbottom but, at the same time, want this 2013 blend of experience and promising youth to learn from both Monday’s 6-5 loss at Ashland and what took place in Lorain County on Wednesday.
“As I told them after the game, we have to stick together,” said Coach Ganor, who entered this season, his ninth as the Wildcats’ skipper, with a career record of 170-59. That mark includes a school record of three
consecutive state final four appearances (2007, ’08 and ’09).
“Every season has a point where you lose a couple in a row and you see what your team is made of,” Coach Ganor continued. “And maybe this is our ‘What are we made of?’ It’s never happened in the first
week of the season, but if it does, then so be it. If we’re better for it on the back end, then fine.”
Amherst Steele, a junior and senior-laden club led by senior pitcher/third baseman and Stanford Cardinal recruit Griffin Weir, sent eight batters to the plate en route to taking a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The big blows were a bases-loaded double to center field by senior left fielder Brandon Chesmar and an RBI single to center by junior catcher Justin Mott.
A couple of throwing errors led to another Comets run in the second inning and base hits by Weir,
Mott and junior right fielder Alex Walts had coach Matt Rositano’s team in the driver’s seat at 6-0 through three innings.
It stayed that way until the top of the fifth when, with two outs and nobody on base, the Wildcats took advantage of some control problems by Comets pitching and loaded the bases. An errant pick-off attempt, a dropped fly ball and an RBI infield hit down the third base line by junior designated hitter Shane Skuhrovec enabled Saint Ignatius to cut the deficit to 6-3.
Amherst Steele grabbed the momentum right back by scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth. The runs were set up by a dropped fly ball and a throwing error.
The Comets then took command with a two-run bottom of the sixth that featured a line-drive base hit up the middle by junior shortstop Kody Bledsoe and a double off the fence in center field by Weir.
“Our pitchers are very good,” said Coach Ganor. “We just need to tweak a couple of things here and there. Our hitters are very good. They just need to understand that our game plan, what we practice and what we talk about in practice can’t change when we get to the game. And for some reason, what we are talking about and executing in practice every day is just not translating to the field right now.
“It’s April 3 and we have a lot of baseball ahead of us,” Coach Ganor continued. “The schedule isn’t going to get any easier, nor should it. We shouldn’t be playing creampuffs to win games. If we go .500 (in the
regular season) and we’re playing in Columbus in June, then fantastic. But at some point we need to build some confidence, too. I get that.
“These guys need to learn how to win and scoring first would be a good step in the right direction.”
JV Wildcats 5, Amherst Steele's Jayvees 1: Wildcats head coach Tim Clark said his 2-0 junior varsity got some strong pitching and a timely offense fueled by Ryan Alexander, Dylan Smolen, Luke Diggs and Sam Fuller.