From Wildcats veteran Assistant Coach Mr. Mark Terlep, with comments from interim Head Coach John Whelan and senior co-Captain Tommy Grosel. The line score was provided by Saint Ignatius' Super Stats Man, Seamus Hough.
NOTE: Yours truly and Saint Ignatius Head Baseball Coach Brad Ganor celebrated First Holy Communions in our families on Saturday, or First Eucharist, if that is your preference, Coach Ganor's son Dominic and this proud grandpa's grandson, Connor Christopher Murphy.
However, through the efforts of Coach Terlep, who sent this corner the vital details on what was a tough loss at Mentor, we are able to provide you with our tradional game report.
From sunny, yet still a little rain soaked Mentor High School Baseball Stadium.
The Wildcats' bats came out thundering, as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The key hits were doubles by Tommy Grosel, Jack Eyink, and Michael Holdsworth.
Mentor was able to answer back with a run in the bottom of the first inning when the Cardinals' Will LaGanke, who would wreak havoc on the basepaths all day, scored the first of his two runs. LaGanke reached base four times with two walks and two hit by pitches.
In the bottom of the second, the now 12-7 Cats, whose four-game winning streak was snapped, opened the door for the Cardinals by "not quite finishing off a double play." Two walks later, the bases were loaded for Justin Wilson, who launched a bases-clearing double to give Mentor a 4-3 lead that it never relinquished.
The Cardinals were able to bring Wilson home to make the score 5-3 at the end of two innings.
Mentor, which put together a 6-0 week, including a 9-5 Greater Cleveland Conference victory over 2017 Division I State Runner-Up Strongsville on Friday, was able to tally another run in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 6-3. A pickoff move to second base had the ever-illusive LaGanke picked off, but an errant throw to third allowed him to score.
Saint Ignatius was able to scratch a run across in the fifth off a single by AJ Gaich, Grosel's second double of the day, and a sacrifice fly from Jack Eyink.
The line score from Seamus Hough read 4-10-1 for Saint Ignatius and 6-4-1 for Mentor.
Grosel, who was playing in his hometown, led the way for the Wildcats by going 3-for-4 on the day with two doubles and a run scored. Gaich also had two hits and a run scored, Jack Eyink had a double with two RBIs, and Holdsworth produced a double and a run batted in.
From Tommy Grosel, when asked about his day at the plate: "I'm really seeing the ball well right now. I've been able to become more comfortable at the plate and have gained confidence as the season has progressed."
When asked about the Cats' performance on Saturday, Tommy responded: "We got off to a fast start and then just kind of died from there. We weren't able to get those timely hits after that first inning."
From Coach Terlep: "It was a day of little things for us and them. They got them done and we didn't. They turned a huge one-out double play with the bases loaded in the fourth, which got them out of a jam, and we left the door open for them when we didn't finish one off."
From Coach Whelan, who was filling in for his lifelong friend, Coach Ganor: "Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't. We just didn't do those little things today and made some mistakes. Fortunately, we were able to learn from them right away, so we can improve on them for the future."
PLEASE NOTE SCHEDULE CHANGE: The Varsity Baseball Wildcats will be traveling to Trinity High School's Danko Field on Monday for a 5 PM matchup with the Trojans. Monday's originally scheduled game at Tallmadge was cancelled because Tallmadge needs to make up a league game.
Trinity's Danko Field is located at St. Monica,
13633 Rockside Rd, Garfield Heights, OH 44125.
We will see you there, Eddie Dwyer.