Saint Ignatius, which made an impressive rally in the top of the fifth only to come up short, will take a 14-7 record into Saturday's Ohio Jesuit Cup at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon. The Wildcats will face Toledo St. John's Jesuit at 12:30 p.m., and return to All Pro Freight Stadium on Saturday night for an 8 p.m. matchup with Cincinnati St. Xavier.
Along with their four-run fifth, the 'Cats also got a solid performance in relief from sophmore left-hander Nick Margevicius.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT MAY 2012
Brunswick, Ohio – For Saint Ignatius head baseball coach Brad Ganor, there were things to be proud of during Friday evening’s 5-4 loss at Brunswick.
Trailing, 5-0, the Wildcats sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the fifth inning en route to scoring four times and putting the pressure on a Brunswick team that now stands 18-4.
Coach Ganor also pointed to the work by sophomore left-hander and recent junior-varsity call up Nick Margevicius, who kept Saint Ignatius in the game with his second strong performance out of the bullpen.
No, it wasn’t the way Coach Ganor wanted to enter this weekend’s annual Ohio Jesuit Cup, a two-day event at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon that will see the Wildcats play three of strongest teams in Ohio – St. John’s Jesuit, St. Xavier and Walsh Jesuit. The corner previews the Jesuit Cup in a story below.
However, even though Saint Ignatius (14-7) will take a two-game losing streak into the Jesuit Cup, Coach Ganor emphasized that neither Brunswick nor the Jesuit Cup are the Wildcats’ season.
From day one of winter practice, Saint Ignatius’ emphasis has always been on the OHSAA state tournament, which for the Wildcats begins Wednesday against Maple Heights in sectional play.
Now don’t get Coach Ganor and his staff wrong. The ‘Cats would love to recapture their momentum by making a strong showing in the Jesuit Cup, especially after failing to win a game at last year’s Cup. But, as any veteran area high school baseball fan will tell you, it is all about what happens in mid-to late May.
And that holds even truer for Saint Ignatius, which is looking to advance to the OHSAA Division I regional for the first time since 2009.
As for Mr. Momentum, he was holding court in Brunswick’s dugout through four innings on Friday evening.
Undaunted by a huge threatening cloud that hovered over their field and some on-again, off-again showers, the Blue Devils scored three times in the bottom of the first and made it 5-0 with a two-run fourth.
A leadoff single up the middle by Kyle Burson, a stolen base by Burson, three consecutive walks and a two-out RBI single by Jesse Elias helped fuel Brunswick’s three-run first. The two-run fourth included another hit by Burson, a throwing error and a run-scoring double by Kyle Michalik.
Just when the Blue Devils’ faithful were feeling pretty comfortable, the Wildcats came alive.
Senior center fielder and tri-captain Tim McCoy started the top of the fifth by being hit by a pitch. Senior first baseman Stephen Alexander drew a walk and junior third baseman Tyler Finkler ripped an RBI double off the fence in left field.
A sharp grounder to short off the bat of senior catcher Ralph Lucarelli brought home Saint Ignatius’ second run and, after senior shortstop and tri-captain Mike Ruffing drew a walk, senior right fielder Scott Chase hit an authoritative grounder to the left side for another run.
Junior left fielder Conor Hennessey then made it a one-run game by delivering a line-drive RBI-double down the left-field line.
A leaping catch of a line drive by Ruffing that he turned into a double play in the bottom of the fifth kept the Wildcats within one run, but the Blue Devils were able to hold on.
As part of what was a tribute by Brunswick to our Armed Forces, past and present, both teams wore camouflage baseball jerseys.