Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Senior Writer and Northwest scout

COLUMBUS – Cleveland St.Ignatius broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the sixth inning and sophomore relief pitcher MJ Nara closed out the game with two shutout frames and the Wildcats held off Gahanna-Lincoln 7-5 in the Division I state semifinals on Saturday.

Shane Skuhrovec hit a bloop single to start the sixth and Alex Panstares was hit by a pitch from relief pitcher Boomer Lowe, who came in for starting hurler Alec Tuohy, who gave up just one earned run in five innings. After a strikeout, lead-off hitter Dan Rowbottom hit a high fly to right field that was misjudged into a two-run triple.

Nara came on to fan four in his two innings on the mound to advance St. Ignatius to the state finals on Sunday at 3 p.m. against Cincinnati Moeller.

The Wildcats rallied from a 2-1 deficit with four runs in the top of the third to take a 5-2 lead. Infield singles by Tyler Finkler and Conor Hennessey put two on with two outs when the Golden Lions committed a costly error to keep the inning alive. Cole Nieto and Skuhrovec came through with singles to give St. Ignatius a three-run lead.

But Gahanna tied the game with three in the last of the fifth with RBI singles from Christian Chiero and Alex Delp sandwiched around a run-scoring ground out from Evan White.

St. Ignatius, an 11-time participant in the state tournament, seeks its second state title, the other coming in 2002.

The game marked the first time Gahanna Lincoln had ever advanced to state in baseball.

LINESCORE

Cle. St. Ignatius  104 002 0  -  7  8  2

Gahanna-Lincoln  110 030 0  -  5  6  4

Records: St. Ignatius 27-6, Gahanna Lincoln 22-10.

Winning pitcher: Kyle Pluta (1 inning, 1 run, 2 hits, 0 strikeouts, 0 walks). Others: Tom Rolle, MJ Nara. 

Losing pitcher: Boomer Lowe (1 inning, 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 strikeout, 1 walk. Others:Alec Tuohy, Cole Gibson, Mason Daniels. .

Leading hitters: (St. Ignatius, 8 hits) - Dan Rowbottom triple; Tyler Finkler 2 singles; Conor Hennessey 2 singles; Shane Skuhrovec 2 singles. (Gahanna Lincoln, 6 hits) - Christian Chiero single, double; Alex delp 2 singles. .