HOYER STRIKES OUT SIX IN SIX INNINGS EN ROUTE TO IMPROVING TO 6-1 ON THE SEASON.
*SAINT IGNATIUS TO FACE NORMANDY IN THURSDAY'S SECTIONAL FINAL AT B-W.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT MAY 2012
Avon, Ohio – After he continued his exceptional season on the mound by limiting Maple Heights to one hit on Wednesday night, Saint Ignatius’ 6-foot-4 senior right-hander Matt Hoyer talked about how baseball, especially on the high school level, is truly a game of momentum.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Hoyer said after he led the Wildcats past the Mustangs, 10-0, in a Division I sectional semifinal that was called in the bottom of the sixth because of the 10-run mercy rule. “You have to have momentum through every game and carry it on to the next one.”
The next one for Saint Ignatius (15-9) is Thursday’s (tomorrow) sectional-final matchup at Baldwin-Wallace College against the Normandy Invaders. The first pitch is 4:30 p.m. Normandy advanced by outslugging Berea, 9-8.
As for Wednesday night in a rainbow sky All Pro Freight Stadium, Hoyer turned to his fastball in building his own momentum, which resulted in six strikeouts in six innings, a walk, a hit batsman and Maple Heights’ only hit – a two-out single up the middle in the top of the fourth by opposing pitcher Dwayne Bridges.
“I was just doing my usual thing out there, it wasn’t anything I was throwing that they weren’t going to touch,” Matt said after he upped his record to a team-best 6-1. “They were making some contact and had one hit. I was just doing my thing.”
And Hoyer’s thing saw him retire the first 11 Mustangs in order.
As for the Wildcats’ offense, it set the tempo early and often. Sending nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, Saint Ignatius got the run parade started with a leadoff single to right field by junior left fielder Conor Hennessey, a ball that bounced away from the right fielder and allowed Hennessey to advance to second base. After a sacrifice bunt by gritty senior outfielder Dan Oaklief, gifted junior second baseman Dan Rowbottom lined an RBI triple the opposite way to left field.
Following an errant throw back to the pitcher that allowed Rowbottom to cross the plate, senior center fielder and tri-captain Tim McCoy ripped a single to center field, stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the ‘Cats’ third run on a base hit by senior first baseman/designated hitter/outfielder Stephen Alexander.
Saint Ignatius then combined a dropped fly ball by the left fielder that resulted in a three-base error, a walk to senior catcher Ralph Lucarelli, a fielder’s choice and another error in completing its six-run first.
The Wildcats, who are seeded third at the Strongsville sectional/district, used a one-out walk to Oaklief, another base hit by Rowbottom and a grounder to the right side by McCoy in pushing their lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the second. Coach Brad Ganor’s team settled the issue with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and a game-ending run in the sixth that was set up by a hustling infield hit by Oaklief and McCoy’s line-drive single down the right-field line.
Maple Heights, which slipped to 5-12, pulled off two exceptional defensive gems – a fully extended diving catch in right center by senior center fielder Jeron Williams in the bottom of the third and a play by senior shortstop Noah Tolliver that saw him knock down a ground ball, pick it up and fire a strike to home plate for the second out in the bottom of the fifth.
Bridges, a sophomore right-hander, settled down after the first inning and was able to keep Saint Ignatius off the board in the third and fifth innings.
“He’s been phenomenal,” said Coach Ganor after Hoyer helped the Wildcats snap a four-game losing streak, a small skid that included two one-run losses (Brunswick and Toledo St. John’s Jesuit) and a 7-4 setback to Cincinnati power St. Xavier on Sunday that was one clutch hit away from being a different story.
“That’s pretty good baseball right there,” Coach Ganor continued while discussing Hoyer’s performance and the solid defense and clutch hitting his team put on display Wednesday night. “We’ve been talking for three days now, since the Jesuit tournament, about when we have guys on second and third or a guy on third with less than two outs, we need to get those runs in. All we did for the last two days in practice was situational hitting. And they did it tonight.”