Toledo, Ohio - In the bottom of the fourth inning at Sunday's game with St. John's Jesuit, Saint Ignatius' outstanding Baseball Statistician Seamus Hough said, "He's pounding the strike zone!"

 "He" is Wildcats outstanding senior southpaw Tommy Grosel and Seamus couldn't have described better what Tommy did to the host Titans in the second and final round of the annual Ohio Jesuit Tournament.   

 In leading the now 9-6 Wildcats to a 6-0 triumph over St. John's Jesuit, Grosel was dominant from start to finish, as he limited the Titans to one hit on their home field.

 Tommy, who is now 4-0 on the season, threw 84 pitches, 54 of which were strikes. The only hit he allowed was a two-out, soft single in the bottom of the sixth, a blooper if you will.   

 Grosel, a four-year Varsity player who joins his battery mate, senior catcher Drew Asadorian, as Head Coach Brad Ganor's co-Captains, is also a standout first baseman with a more than capable bat.

 "Definitely my curveball," said Tommy when asked what pitch was his key during his near no-hitter. "I got more control of my fastball as the game picked up, but definitely my curveball."

  With that curveball breaking beautifully and his fastball starting to heat up, Tommy had a complete-game performance that included eight strikeouts and two walks.

 Rebounding from Saturday night's tough walk-off loss to Cincinnati St. Xavier (see the corner's story from early Sunday morning), Coach Ganor's 'Cats finished 1-1 in the highly competitive OJT.

 The Wildcats jumped on Titans pitching with two runs in the top of the first inning and took control with a two-run fourth.

 Leading off the top of the first inning, dynamic junior second baseman AJ Gaich beat out a grounder for a base hit and promptly stole second base. With AJ on the move again, Grosel's athleticism turned a high chopper to third into a hit and the 'Cats had runners at the corners with no outs.

 After senior pinch runner Mark Bobinski stole second base, junior left fielder/third baseman Michael Holdsworth, a Darin Erstad Nebraska recruit, drew a walk that loaded the bases with Wildcats.

 Saint Ignatius' baseball savvy senior first baseman JJ Conway produced a run off a sharp grounder to third base and gifted sophomore shortstop Michael McNamara made it a 2-0 game with a sacrifice fly to right field.

 After Grosel set down the 13-4 Titans on just four pitches in the bottom of the second, the Wildcats extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the third with a four-pitch walk to Holdsworth, Holdsworth's stolen base, a two-out walk drawn by McNamara, and a run-scoring single to left field off the bat of junior third baseman Matt Ferritto.

 Saint Ignatius, voted the top seed at the OHSAA Strongsville Division I Sectional/District on Sunday (see the corner's post), took command with a two-run fourth inning.

 Asadorian got the fourth inning started with an authoritative line-drive base hit. Bobinski pinch ran again and advanced to second on a passed ball. Versatile junior center fielder Luke Cooper moved Bobinski to third with a sacrifice bunt, sophomore right fielder Erik Daugenti delivered an RBI base hit, and the other big blow in the 'Cats' fourth was Grosel's run-scoring base knock to the gap in left-center field.

 "As long as we get the win that is all that matters," Tommy said of his mound mastery on Sunday. "It definitely was a great bounce-back win."

 And adding some more spring to that bounce back were Holdsworth and McNamara.

 Holdsworth doubled off the fence in right field in the top of the seventh and McNamara turned a two-out, 0-2 pitch into an RBI single to center field.

 "Tommy was spectacular, he did everything we expected him to do," said Coach Ganor of the young man he always calls on to right the ship after a setback. "Hopefully we can keep the confidence high. When you lose on a walk off (to St. Xavier) there's that fear that they're not going to be able to recover from it for awhile, that it might linger for a few days. But it probably took only 30 seconds after the (Xavier) game and they were on to today."

 Up next for Coach Ganor and Company is Tuesday's 5 PM encounter with the Normandy Invaders at Fisher Field on the campus of Baldwin Wallace University. Mound savvy big-game tested junior Matt Geraci will take the hill at Fisher Field on Tuesday.

 Just a reminder that this corner will kick up some more diamond dust and preview another week in Wildcats Varsity Baseball on Monday, a week that includes Thursday's anxiously awaited 5 PM matchup with longtime rival St. Edward on Fisher Field.

 In closing, this corner tips his cap to the 15-2 Walsh Jesuit Warriors, who brought home The Ohio Jesuit Tournament championship by going 2-0 this weekend, including Sunday's 2-0 victory over now 11-6 St. Xavier.

 Saint Ignatius will be hosting the OJT in 2019.