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Progressive Field Game a Success for Baseball Cats

By Eddie Dwyer, 04/21/18, 12:45PM EDT

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Coach Brad Ganor's Varsity Baseball Wildcats ride a gutsy pitching staff, an opportunistic offense and some sound defense to a 7-5 victory over Kenston at Progressive Field

By Eddie Dwyer 

From the corner of Carnegie and Ontario - Friday night's game was part of the annual Cleveland Indians Charities High School Hardball Classic and marked the Varsity Cats' fifth victory in their past six games.

 The game ended after five innings because of the two-hour time limit that accompanies all games at the High School Hardball Classic.

  Saint Ignatius will take a record of 7-3 into today's (Saturday) doubleheader at Olentangy Liberty, which is located in Delaware County.

 Crafty and big-hearted junior Matt Geraci (2-1) will take the mound for the 1 PM matchup with the 11-3 Greyhounds from Grove City and gifted and savvy junior Andrew Mulhern will look to improve his record to 3-0 when he faces the 15-2 Olentangy Liberty Patriots in the second game. The second game is scheduled to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.         

 The Kenston Bombers, a solid ball club that is ranked fourth in The News Herald's coverage area "Top of the Crop" poll, slipped to 7-5, a record that matched Fridaynight's final score.

 HERE IS A CORNER'S DUGOUT VIEW ON WHAT WAS A SUNNY, BUT BRISK FRIDAYNIGHT AT THE HOME OF TERRY FRANCONA'S INDIANS.

 After his team posed for a picture in front of the Indians' dugout, Saint Ignatius Head Coach Brad Ganor reflected on what it meant to him and his Wildcats to again have the opportunity to play in one of the premier facilities in all of Major League Baseball.

 Although Coach Ganor has directed his highly successful program to many appearances at the Indians' special yearly event, which now spans nearly two decades, you only have to see the look in his eyes to realize that the short trip across The Hope Memorial Bridge (formerly The Lorain-Carnegie Bridge) never gets old.

 "They got out of a couple of jams early on and gave us a chance to extend the lead a little bit," said Coach Ganor of a Wildcats pitching staff that Friday night stood as strong as the statues that stand on pylons at each end of The Hope Memorial Bridge. Like those "Guardians of Transportation," Coach Ganor's arms helped show the way Friday night, mentally as much as physically.

 "In the end, however that game ended up was going to be irrelevant to me," Coach Ganor said after the Wildcats returned to Saint Ignatius on Friday night. "It was about being down there (Progressive Field) and enjoying the experience. To get a win on top of it is always good, but I wanted them to embrace this opportunity because if they are seniors, chances are they'll never get the opportunity to play on this field again. That's what creates special memories and it's the only thing I care about."

 After senior Matt Hunt pitched a scoreless top of the first inning, a frame that saw senior Evan Henry make a diving catch in short center field, haul in a pop fly to center and Hunt make a nice scoop on a 1-3 ground out, the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

 Endless energy junior second baseman AJ Gaich led off with a walk and gifted sophomore shortstop Michael McNamara also drew a base on balls. After Gaich tagged up and went to third base on a deep fly ball to right-center field off the bat of versatile junior and Nebraska recruit Michael Holdsworth, McNamara stole second base and Gaich would score the game's first run on a sharp grounder to first base off the bat of senior third baseman JJ Conway.

 One of those early jams Coach Ganor referred to took place in the top of the second inning.

 Employing a new pitcher every inning as he has done throughout his years managing at the High School Hardball Classic, Coach Ganor called on junior Matt Ferritto for the second inning.

 After issuing a lead-off walk, Matt and multi-skilled senior first baseman/co-Captain Tommy Grosel combined on a smooth pick-off play. Kenston, which welcomed back 14 lettermen from a Bombers' team that won 21 games last year, responded with a sharp single up the middle by junior first baseman Jason Vasil.

 Following another walk, Kenston had runners on first and second with one out. Ferritto reached back for something extra, however, and retired the next two batters on a fly out to senior Mark Bobinski in left field and a pop up to McNamara in short left field.

 Riding the momentum of Ferritto's gritty effort, Saint Ignatius scored three times in the bottom of the second. The big blows were a one-out base hit by senior right fielder Jordan Asimes, a two-out single from Henry, a two-out, two-run double off the bat of Gaich and a two-out RBI single by McNamara.

 After a lead-off walk to sophomore left fielder Tyler Mintz, who reached base three times for the Bombers, followed by a bunt for a base hit from senior second baseman Patrick Persichetti and another walk, this time to 2017 All-District senior center fielder Matt Pecoraro, Kenston had the bases full with no outs in the top of the third.

 At that point, junior pitcher Sean Wracher dug deep and yielded just one run by retiring the next three batters off a strikeout of standout senior catcher Matt Cassaro, a .422 All-District hitter in 2017, a 5-3 groundout and another key play in center field by Henry, who overcame a tough sun in hauling in a ball to the gap in right-center field.

 "My first reaction, I was nervous," said Wracher when Coach Ganor pointed a finger in his direction. "I went in and said, 'Holy Cow, this is huge.' I settled in and said to myself, 'All right, have some fun with this, it's like a once in lifetime experience.'

 "So I took it all in from there," Sean continued. "All around the board (the pitching staff), we took it all in and had a good time with it. Like Coach said at the beginning of the game, make the most out of it and have fun."

 Wracher shared with this corner that it was his ability to locate his fastball that allowed him to settle in and prevent just the one run off a bases-loaded, no-outs situation.

 With the Wildcats leading, 4-1, Coach Ganor called on the strong arm of junior Sam LaGuardia and Sam, blending a nasty curveball with his usual active fastball, set down the Bombers in order in the top fourth. Sam struck out the first two batters he faced and got the third out on a fly ball to the ever-present Henry.

 Saint Ignatius took advantage of consecutive walks to Asimes and Bobinski and a one-out double steal by junior pinch runner Luke Cooper and Bobinski in pushing its advantage to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Cooper would score from third off a sharp 6-3 ground out from the bat of Gaich.

 Kenston's veteran Head Coach Bob Ford saw just what he expected from his big-game tested team, as the young men from Geauga County rallied to tie the score by scoring four times in the top of the fifth.

 Fueling the big-hearted Bombers' offense were Persichetti, sophomore third baseman Jon Tomcufcik, Vasil and senior shortstop Stephen Szczesniak, who brought home the tying run by drawing a bases-loaded walk.

 Saint Ignatius knows all about big-time responses, however, and the 'Cats did just that in the bottom of the fifth by opening the door to their sixth and seventh runs off a hit batsman (Holdsworth) and walks to Conway, junior first baseman Leo Eyink, and junior catcher Austin Jones (a bases-loaded walk).

 The final Progressive Field line score was 7-4-0 for Saint Ignatius and 5-6-0 for Kenston. This seasoned reporter's line score was two class teams usually make for a memorable and spirited leave-it-all-on-the-diamond game.

 We'll see you at Olentangy Liberty in a few hours. Have a great weekend!