By Chris Check                                                                                                                              NE Regional Scout

STRONGSVILLE, OH- St. Ignatius scored early then rallied back from a 4-2 deficit, to claim a hard fought come from behind victory over Parma Normandy Invaders, 5-4.

The Wildcats jumped out early in the bottom of the first inning when junior left fielder Sam Fuller and senior center fielder Nick Fabian each singled with one out. Senior first baseman Joe Khoury then singled in the first run of the game with a line drive to center field.

With runners on second and third, junior catcher Alex Panstares grounded to third, whose throw to home was wide to the backstop, scoring Fabian. Khoury appeared to score from second on the throw, but was ruled out for runner interference on the catcher by Fabian who score previously.

Senior DH Shane Skuhrovec then walked followed by an infield hit by senior shortstop David Bodziony, to load the bases. Normandy starting pitcher junior Logan Stacho then got the next batter to ground out to first base to end the inning.

Normandy responded in the top of the second when senior DH Sean Mayer singled with one out and moved to second on senior first baseman’s groundout to first. Senior second baseman Tyler Carciopollo then singled home Mayer. Carciopollo moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third base and scored on a throwing error by the catcher, tying the score at 2-2.

The Invaders then gained the lead in the third inning when senior center fielder singled to left and moved to second on senior shortstop Zach Tancak’s infield single. Both runners moved up a base on the throw to first which was over the head of the first baseman, bringing to the plate Anthony Louis. 

The senior catcher got a big two-out two-RBI single to push the score to 4-2.

St. Ignatius junior starter RHP M.J. Nara then settled down to only allow two more hits over the over the next four innings.

The Wildcats chipped away at the lead behind singles by Skuhrovec and Bodziony to lead off the inning.  Skuhrovec eventually scored on a throwing error on the Normandy pitcher who was trying to throw out the hitter after a bunted ball, making the score 4-3.

In the sixth inning Skurovec again singled to lead-off the frame, Bodziony then executed a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Pinch hitter Quillen Austria then hit a hard one hopper up the middle which was fielded cleanly on a great backhand stop by Carciopollo, who was unable to throw out the runner due to the first baseman moving to the cutoff position from the outfield.

After a stolen base by Austria, putting both runners in scoring position, sophomore third baseman Dennis Grosel lined a big two-RBI double down the right field line to score both runners.  

Stacho then retired the next two hitters to give his team a chance to win in the top of the seventh.

Nara finished strong striking out two hitters and getting a weak pop out to first despite a sharp single by Stacho in the inning.

Nara got the hard fought win to move the Wildcats into today’s final versus North Royalton in the Championship game.

LINESCORE

NORMANDY                      022 000 0 -- 4  
ST. IGNATIUS                  200 102 x -- 5