COLUMBUS, Ohio – St. Ignatius baseball saw its season come to an end in a 10-5 loss to Westerville Central in an OHSAA Division I state semifinal at Huntington Park in Columbus on Thursday morning.
Westerville Central’s offense shone from the first inning, when St. Ignatius pitcher Connor Adams started the game with two walks, leading to a bases loaded scoring opportunity for Noah West on an infield dribbler. It would be the only run scored for Westerville in that inning.
Adams responded strongly though, striking out four batters and getting another to pop out after loading the bases.
It wouldn’t last long. Westerville’s bats once again came alive in the third inning, scoring five runs on a barrage of extra base hits. Adams was pulled for Murphy O’Brien.
In the third and fifth inning, it looked like St. Ignatius was ready to make a run at getting back in the game, but starting pitcher Gavin Lyon shut the door both times. The Wildcats left five runners on base in those innings.
O’Brien pitched well in the fourth inning and did not allow a run after allowing two Warhawks batters on base. But in the bottom of the fifth, Westerville scored two more runs on a towering two RBI double to left field by Drew Wallace.
Two batters later, an almost identical double to left field, this time by Lyon, scored Wallace and extended the game to 9-0.
In the sixth inning, St. Ignatius was finally able to sustain a run offensively, getting two runs on a single from Sam Fuller. Gavin Lyon was pulled for Daniel Kreuzer, who gave up a two-run double to Dennis Grosel on the next pitch, bringing the score to 9-4.
St. Ignatius would not go quietly, as Grosel scored on an RBI single from Kevin Mingus, bringing the score to 9-5 in the sixth inning before James Zajaczkowski struck out to end the run.
Westerville put together another three-hit run in the sixth, scoring another run on a Zach Dahman single.
Back to back popups and an infield grounder in the seventh inning ended St. Ignatius’ season.
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