By Dan Machovina
PBR Ohio Assistant Director

CANTON, OHIO – Mentor HS and Brunswick HS met up at Thurman Munson Stadium for one of the top regional semi-final matchups in the Division I tournament.

The showdown featured two ace pitchers in Mentor junior right-handed pitcher Kade McClure (Louisville recruit) and Brunswick senior left-handed pitcher Gerry Salisbury (Ohio University recruit).

The game stayed scoreless through five complete innings as neither team was able to advance a runner to third base during this time.

However, in the top of the sixth inning, Mentor finally pushed the first runs of the game across on scoreboard. Senior right fielder Nick Delisa reached based on a bunt and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. The next hitter popped up to the second-baseman leaving Delisa stranded with two outs.

Then, Brunswick elected to intentionally walk the three-hole hitter, senior catcher Danny Trimble (St. Bonaventure recruit) to take their chances with junior shortstop Corey Plavcan.

Plavcan delivered a huge two out two RBI double to left-center field, making it a 2-0 game. Junior third-baseman Sam Vilk then singled to center field to plate Plavcan making it a 3-0 in favor of Mentor at the end of the top of the sixth inning.

After holding Brunswick scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Mentor added insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on first and third and one out, senior second baseman Brandon Kasberg delivered a RBI double to left field. Trimble followed with a sacrifice fly and Plavcan added a two out single to bring home two more runs, making it a 6-0 in favor of Mentor.

Inning after inning, Brunswick could not catch a break at the plate.

To their credit, the Blue Devil hitters squared up several balls, but time after time, the ball found its way into the glove of the Mentor defenders.

After experiencing tightness in his back during the later innings of the game, McClure came back out to pitch the seventh inning for the Cardinals.

With the talented junior wearing down, Brunswick started the inning with a leadoff double from senior catcher Brian Lees (Akron recruit). After back-to-back singles, McClure struck out the next two hitters.

With two outs, senior short-stop Kyle Michalik (OSU recruit) laced an RBI Double over the left-fielder’s head, cutting the lead in half making it 6-3.

McClure quickly countered by inducing a ground ball to the shortstop, who recorded the final out of the day and secured a 6-3 victory in favor of Mentor.

Mentor will now play against Aurora Friday for a regional championship game at Thurman Munson Stadium. 

To view scouting notes from games across Ohio, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week. 

To discuss this game, please visit our partner JJHuddle.