By Chris Check
Regional Scout

BRUNSWICK, OH - Strongsville travelled up the road yesterday to take on Brunswick in a match-up of neighboring cities and conference rivals.  

Both teams traditionally have had close battles for conference supremacy and yesterday’s game did not disappoint. 

The pitching match-up featured one of Northeast Ohio’s top pairings with Brunswick’s unsigned senior left-handed ace Gerry Salsbury against Strongsville’s senior right-hander ace Austin Previt. 

Pitching dominated the first two innings as neither team could muster a hit, highlighted by Salsbury striking out the side in the top of the second. 

Strongsville was able to threaten in the top of the third as leadoff hitter senior Brad Hajdin reached on an infield error and then advanced to second on a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt that turned into a hit for senior catcher Brendan Lange.  First baseman junior Tom Krokey then laid down a sacrifice bunt to give the Mustangs runners on second and third with one out.

Brunswick wisely chose to intentionally walk leadoff hitter, junior right-fielder Ryan Frank, to create a double play opportunity or a force at home plate.  Salsbury rose to the occasion by inducing a 4-6-3 double play to end the rally and the inning.

The bottom of the third inning was just as tense as the Blue Devils senior left fielder, Joey Verbiak, reached on an error and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Ryan Kuntz.  Strongsville’s defense then came up big after leadoff hitter; senior second baseman Kyle Burson lined a single to right field.  The Mustangs’ right fielder Frank fielded the ball and hit the first base cut-off Krokey, who turned and threw a strike to catcher Lange tagging out Verbiak trying to score from second base. 

Burson followed with smart, aggressive base running as he took second after the throw to home and then scored from second on the next play after senior shortstop Kyle Michalik got an infield hit in the hole at short.

Strongsville threatened again in the sixth inning after getting the leadoff hitter to second base following another sacrifice bunt.  The lefty Salsbury then responded by getting a fly out to centerfield. After issuing an intentional walk to the three-hole hitter Ben Szymczak, Salisbury followed with a strikeout to end the Strongsville threat. 

Brunswick added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning after junior third baseman Cory Welsh led off the inning with a double to the right center gap.  Sophomore right fielder Gary Clift delivered a big two out hit up the middle to drive in Welsh. 

Salisbury finished the game by striking out two in the last inning to get the win for Brunswick. Salisbury logged seven innings, giving up two hits, striking out eight while allowing only two walks (both intentional). 

Previt pitched well for Strongsville going six innings, giving up five hits, striking out seven and allowing only one walk. 

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.