Ohio City - Coming off a solid effort in the prestigious and talent-laden Southeastern Baseball Classic at Hartsville, South Carolina (see the stories on the Corner and the Varsity Baseball Page), Coach Brad Ganor's now 3-2 Wildcats are preparing for a stretch of four games in four days.
It is another slate of quality opponents, starting with Wednesday's road game at Massillon Washington. The first pitch on the Tigers' storied Carl "Ducky" Schroeder Field is scheduled for 5 PM.
The Tigers are off to a 4-1 start that includes a 19-4 victory over their archrival Canton McKinley. Massillon laid 10 first-inning runs on the Bulldogs.
Coach Spike Ridgley's Tigers have also defeated Louisville, 6-2, and swept a doubleheader from Ellet, 13-0 and 3-2.
Massillon's setback came at the hands of the always capable program from GlenOak, 6-5. Despite the loss, the Tigers displayed a lot of heart in coming back and making a game of it after trailing the Golden Eagles, 6-0.
Coach Ridgley has built around seven seniors and, as the outstanding high school sports reporters from Stark County emphasized in preseason, the 2018 Tigers consider themselves "a dangerous team."
Massillon has quality pitching depth in Jonathan Machamer, Alex Seifert and Dylan Ladd. Looking at the Tigers' scores, it is obvious their offense and defense have also been solid.
If the name Machamer sounds familiar it is because Jonathan's brother, Chris, had two strong outings against the Baseball Cats during his high school career. Now a sophomore mainstay out of the University of Kentucky's bullpen, Chris had a big-time save last week when he came on with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh against the Louisville Cardinals. Machamer went 2.1 innings, his longest outing of the season, striking out three and not allowing a run.
HERE IS HOW THE REMAINDER OF THE WILDCATS' 4-IN-4 WEEK SHAPES UP.
Versus Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, Thursday at 5 PM on Baldwin Wallace University's atmosphere-rich Fisher Field.
The first of three consecutive home games this week, the Wildcats are hosting one of the area's history-rich baseball programs. The Lions of Coach Jim Clark got off to an uncharacteristic 0-5 start this season versus a tough schedule, but NDCL fans know they have one of the best of the best at the helm in Coach Clark.
The 2017 Ashtabula District champions and North Coast League Blue Division champs, the Lions had to replace three starting infielders from last year who helped key their offense.
Among the veterans this spring are pitchers Brenden Hofacre and Joe DiMattio, and their battery-mate Julian Mangelluzzi. Mangelluzzi swings an authoritative bat.
Coach Clark, who joins Coach Ganor as two of Northeast Ohio's most successful coaches, is in his 24th season. After advancing to the Regional Semifinals, the Lions finished 13-12 last year, including a 7-3 mark in the NCL.
Versus Strongsville, Friday at 5 PM on Baldwin Wallace University's Fisher Field.
A 2017 Division I State Runner-Up to Massillon Jackson, Strongsville enters this week's play at 3-3, including a 2-0 mark in the Greater Cleveland Conference. The Mustangs of Head Coach Doug Cicerchi completed a sweep of Brunswick with a 6-1 victory on Friday afternoon. It was Strongsville's Home Opener.
The Mustangs trailed the Brunswick Blue Devils, 1-0, after the first inning. Strongsville had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the first inning, but failed to score.
From there, the Mustangs displayed the credentials that led them to last year's 25-9 record and state-final game appearance by scoring in every inning.
Jesse Kramer and Austin Mucurio had big days at the plate for Strongsville, as did Jack Frank, who hit two towering home runs off Brunswick pitching.
Although the Mustangs graduated seven key players from last season's exceptional run, a spring that saw them start 0-4 and then end up in the big-school State Championship game, they welcomed back two savvy big-game tested pitchers in seniors Matt Brosky and Mitch Midea.
Yes, Friday's matchup with the Mustangs is another step in what both programs are truly striving for - to be complete ball clubs when the OHSAA postseason rolls around.
That said, Strongsville did defeat Saint Ignatius twice last year, in the regular season matchup at Strongsville and in the OHSAA Strongsville District Championship Game. I'll leave it at that as far as Friday's incentive leader goes.
Versus Brunswick, Saturday at 2 PM on Baldwin Wallace University's Fisher Field.
One of the things this corner is looking forward to on Saturday is being able to see the 2018 Junior Varsity Baseball Wildcats in action. The JV Cats will get things started at high noon versus Brunswick's Jayvees. With the way the baseball schedules work out, there are not the same opportunities to cover and report on the Freshmen and JV Baseball Teams, as there are in football and basketball.
Brunswick's Varsity Blue Devils, who stand 1-3 heading into today's (Monday) GCC home game versus Shaker Heights, have lost two GCC games to Strongsville (home and away).They were also defeated at Copley, 2-0.
Brunswick's victory came at Massillon Perry, 12-11.
JUST AROUND THE CORNER: After this week's three home games, the Baseball Cats will play their fourth consecutive home game versus St. Edward on April 17th. The first pitch from BW's Fisher Field will be 5 PM.
On the evening of April 20th, Coach Ganor's 'Cats will make the short trip across the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge to Progressive Field for the annual Cleveland Indians Charities High School Hardball Classic. This year, the Wildcats will face the Kenston Bombers in a 5:30 first pitch at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
Have a great week and we will see you at Massillon on Wednesday and at one of my all-time favorite venues, Baldwin Wallace University's Fisher Field, Thursday through Saturday.