Optimism and confidence are at the fore, as Coach Brad Ganor’s Wildcats prepare for another demanding schedule.

Saint Ignatius, a deep, talented and versatile club, appears to have that special chemistry all successful teams bring to the diamond.

Senior captains Conor Hennessey, Tyler Finkler, Dan Rowbottom and Kyle Pluta will help show the way for a solid nucleus of veterans and underclassmen.

By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright March 2013

Ohio City – After eight seasons as the head varsity baseball coach at Saint Ignatius, a period that has produced a record of 170-59, a school-best three consecutive state final four appearances (2007,’08 and ’09) and more than 50 players extending their careers to the college level, Brad Ganor does not sugar coat or pull any punches when evaluating his teams.

So when Coach Ganor expresses how optimistic he is about his 2013 Wildcats, Saint Ignatius’ baseball faithful can rest assure this is a season in which success, more than hope, will spring eternal.

“I keep telling the players and I have told a lot of people that rarely do I walk around feeling as confident as I do about this year’s team,” said Coach Ganor while discussing the upcoming season with the corner on Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve been telling people outwardly that I’m confident about it. I think it’s probably the strongest team collectively, one through 20, that we’ve put together since 2009.

“Our pitching is deeper than it has been in a long, long time,” Coach Ganor continued.

Under the guidance of veteran pitching coach T. J. Donovan ’94, a former baseball and football mainstay for the Wildcats who went on to play professional baseball, Saint Ignatius will feature some arms that are already
big game tested and arms that have plenty of promise. While the snow is still falling, Coach Ganor and Coach Donovan are confident that they have those special go-to guys to put on the mound.

“We have those guys,” Coach Ganor said. “They just have to come to the surface.”

In senior southpaw Tom Rolle and senior right-hander Kyle Pluta, the Wildcats feature two young men who were called on in many key situations during last spring’s regional-semifinal season. Tom and Kyle will be furthering their education and baseball careers at Ashland and Tiffin, respectively.

Senior right-hander and Lakeland recruit Matt Lynch, who has been throwing some fire in preseason, gifted junior left-hander Nick Margevicius, who pitched very well after being called up to the varsity last year, and junior southpaw/outfielder and Miami of Ohio recruit Nick Longo are among the other seasoned pitchers.

“Having those guys with just not game experience, but big game experience that they got from last year is huge,” Coach Ganor said. “They pitched significant innings that weren’t just mid week innings. They pitched in playoff atmospheres.

“We have five arms that are 85 plus and two of those five are 90 plus,” said Coach Ganor, who was a baseball and football standout at St. Edward High School, a key pitcher for the Vikings of Cleveland State University and started his career at Saint Ignatius as a pitching coach. “If they pitch to what they are capable of doing, they are going to be fantastic.”

Providing the depth every pitching staff needs will be 6-foot-4 junior right-hander/outfielder Shane Skuhrovec and junior right-hander/outfielder Nick Fabian, an exceptional all-around player who is expected to start in left field. Fabian helped lead the Wildcats’ outstanding junior varsity team of 2012 to a 21-2 record.

“Their roles will be defined,” Coach Ganor said. “We will have Kyle (Pluta), Tom (Rolle), Matt (Lynch) and Nick (Margevicius) as probably those first four guys that are starters and hopefully Nick Longo to close at the end.”

After being one of the few, if not the only team in Ohio, to go exclusively with wood bats last season, Saint Ignatius is switching back to the aluminum bats this spring.

While the ‘Cats produced enough offense to help them win 20 games and advance to the final 16 in Division I in 2012, the players seem to prefer the aluminum, a bat they use on a regular basis with their summer teams. No matter what the makeup of the bats, Coach Ganor looks at this year’s team as being one of the strongest he has seen in his time at Cleveland’s Jesuit Preparatory School.

“I said to somebody the other day that it’s like Manny Ramirez hitting eighth in 1995,” said Coach Ganor of his potentially potent one through nine hitters. “Our lineup is loaded. It looks great, we feel great about it and it’s great on paper right now. But when it comes down to it, they have to produce. Talk is cheap, as they say, and when they get the opportunity to produce they have to take care of business.”

Among those expected to spark the offense are senior center fielder and lead-off hitter Conor Hennessey, who was the Wildcats’ Offensive Player of the Year in 2012 after hitting .352 with six doubles and two triples, senior Tyler Finkler, who is moving from third base to shortstop this season and has the makeup of a very good two-hole hitter, and three-year varsity mainstay and Illinois recruit – senior second baseman Dan Rowbottom – in the three hole.

“We have an idea where we are going to be defensively for game one,” Coach Ganor said. "It is just going to be where we fill those gaps one through nine in the order. We have speed all through the lineup and we have
potential power all through the lineup. We have guys that have a lot of gap to gap power, which is hopefully going to produce a lot of RBI opportunities.”

When you look at the overall picture, Coach Ganor and his other veteran assistants – Matt Blazer ’94, Josh Bieneman and Mark Terlep – have to love the depth of the 2013 ‘Cats.

Saint Ignatius has three very capable catchers in junior Pat Gulick and seniors Kevin Hagen (Wooster recruit) and Jagger Bruck. The left-handed hitting Gulick is expected to be the opening day starter, but as Coach
Ganor emphasized, he and his staff are very comfortable with all three of their young men behind the plate.

Depth also resides at first base, where junior Joe Khoury is expected to start and more-than-capable junior Bennett Kinzel is backing him up. Versatile senior Jordan Bufford provides plenty of options as a middle infielder, as do junior middle infielders Quillen Austria and David Bodziony. Senior third baseman Cole Nieto is being counted on to handle the hot corner.

“The speed and arms in our outfield are unbelievable,” Coach Ganor said in reference to Fabian, Hennessey, Longo, gritty junior Kyle Daugenti and Skuhrovec. “And they are burners, absolute burners. It’s the best
collection of outfield speed that we have ever had in my 15 years (overall).

“We’re going to be good, we’re going to win a lot of games,” Coach Ganor added. “We know that. But in 2007, ’08 and ’09 we took it to a different level in the playoffs. We’re going to expect to do the same. Our expectation is that we have a team capable of making a deep run in the tournament.”

FROM THE CAPTAINS’ PERSPECTIVE

Conor Hennessey: “We have up-tempo practices, a lot of high energy. The attitude and the atmosphere are very good.”

Tyler Finkler: “You have to field the ball quickly, and not just knock it down. You have to field it cleanly and quickly in making the good throw on time.” – Tyler on his move to shortstop after an excellent defensive performance at third base last season.

Kyle Pluta: “We’re all going to pick each other up. The competitiveness within the staff is just going to help everyone get better. It’s mind-boggling when you think of how much pitching we have and the excitement around the program. Everyone has the confidence to take the ball in any situation. It’s a great mindset to have on the mound.”

More from Finkler: “Who’s ever out there on the mound, I feel very comfortable. Throw any of our six, seven guys and I think we’ll get a W.”

More from Hennessey: “I like them all, a lot,” Conor said of the promising juniors from last year’s highly successful JV team. “If I had to choose one of them to take along on a vacation, I would take all of them.”

More from Pluta: “I think us (seniors and juniors) lifting together in the off season built a lot of team chemistry. The younger guys are so confident in their abilities that no one is afraid to make a mistake. I think that when you’re confident, you play to the best of your ability."

VIKING PRIDE: Saints Joseph and John from Strongsville leads the way with five players on the Wildcats’ 20-man 2013 roster – Hennessey, Rolle, Gulick, Fabian and Khoury.

A NEW HOME AND ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE SLATE: The Wildcats’ home games this spring will be played in Classic Park in Eastlake, the home of the Lake County Captains.

Saint Ignatius is scheduled to open its season on April 1 at Boardman. On April 3, the ‘Cats travel to Amherst Steele to face the highly regarded Comets and in what is an overnight stay trip, Saint Ignatius will be in Chillicothe on April 5 to play Bishop Watterson (1 p.m.) and Grove City (5 p.m.) and on April 6 the ‘Cats will gas up the bus and head from Chillicothe to Dublin Jerome for a doubleheader with the Celtics (11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.).

The home opener against Nordonia is scheduled for April 10 at Classic Park and the annual Ohio Jesuit Tournament is ticketed for Classic Park on May 4-5. In what will be a rematch of last year’s regional semifinal, won by the Demons, 6-4, Saint Ignatius will play under the lights at Westlake on April 16. The ‘Cats will also return to Progressive Field this season for a prime-time match up with Avon Lake on April 26 and the games versus rival St. Edward are slated for April 24 at Classic Park and May 11 at Baldwin-Wallace. For a look at the complete schedule go to www.ignatius.edu, click on athletics and click on baseball.