Today's Saint Ignatius baseball players have it good.
The Wildcats have a home field in Baldwin Wallace and a soon-to-be-completed Carfagna Family Magis Athletic Center for around-the-year indoor training.
Ask any baseball alumni to tell you tales of practicing in Sullivan Gym in the winter and bopping between "home" fields in the spring. They'll tell you many a story, and jealously say they wish they were in the shoes of a current Wildcat. All can agree that the spring of 2019 marks a new chapter in Saint Ignatius baseball.
Guided by Brad Ganor, head coach of the Baseball Cats and assistant athletic director, the Wildcats enter a new era. The 2019 Wildcats will be practicing in the Magis Athletic Center in May and will play a whopping 14 home games at Baldwin Wallace University's Fisher Field, just a 15-minute trip from West 30th and Lorain.
The 2019 season will begin in late March with an annual trek south. This year, the Wildcats will head to sunny Florida for four games against four opponents – Tampa Catholic, Calvary Christian, Tampa Jesuit, and Carrollwood. All four teams should pose challenges. Calvary Christian won 60 games in a row before falling in the state title game, Tampa Catholic has won 8 baseball crowns, Carrollwood made the state semifinals, and Jesuit reached the regional finals last season.
Once the Wildcats return to Northeast Ohio, the Wildcats will head to Massillon Jackson on April 2. The Polar Bears have made regionals for five straight seasons and won the Division I title in 2017. Home games vs. Massillon Washington and Brunswick then await before the Wildcats head to the home of the Avon Crushers to face rival St. Edward on April 9.
The Wildcats host North Canton Hoover later that week before heading to Columbus to face Olentangy Orange. The trip down I-71 will be the Wildcats' last road game for a while. The Baseball Cats have a nice 5-game home stretch from April 16-23 against five good squads, including St. Edward.
The annual game at Progressive Field comes this year on Friday, April 26 at 5 pm vs. Benedictine. The annual contest always proves to be a thrill for the Wildcats.
Four games in six days await the Wildcats afterward, two at home and two on the road, with trips to Lakewood and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
In the first weekend of May, the Wildcats will host the vaunted Ohio Jesuit Tournament. Classic Park will be a wonderful venue for the great tournament. The occasion will bring Ohio's top Jesuit squads to Northeast Ohio for a memorable couple days.
The following week, the Wildcats host Stow-Munroe Falls and Holy Name for weekday contests before heading to Cincinnati. The Baseball Cats will play Archbishop Moeller and La Salle on May 10-11 in a premier showdown between the best of Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Once the Wildcats return home, the club will play two of the final three at home, hosting Mentor and Boardman to conclude the regular season at Baldwin Wallace.
As is the case every season, the weather will undoubtedly be a factor and cause postponements and cancelations. But as it stands, the current schedule offers a perfect mix of home and road contests against top-flight competition.