Dylan Hefflinger
PBR Senior Writer and Northwest scout

TOLEDO - After now seeing Toledo St. Francis for the second time I came away even more impressed with how they play. They use the entire roster, take extra bases, hit in the clutch, are loud on the bench (in a good way), use their entire pitching staff and all-in-all are an exciting baseball team to watch.
“We will throw our whole roster at you and hopefully that's good enough,” Toledo St. Francis coach Tim Gerken stated. “That's the makeup of our team. I have a lot of options. Right now we're pushing the right buttons and we're rolling with it.”

No. 8 Division I Toledo St. Francis (19-1) battled TRAC rival No. 24 Division I Toledo St. Johns (11-5) and came away with a 5-2 victory behind solid defense, clutch hitting and the use of five pitchers.

The Knights got on the board first in the third as nine-hole hitter Joe White led-off the frame with a single and advanced to second after Denison University recruit Eric Zmuda roped a single up the middle to put runners on the corners. Cody Lewis then plated White with a sacrifice fly.

St. Francis added two more runs in the fourth capitalizing on a huge error. A lead-off walk to John Carroll recruit Max Lyon started the inning. St. John's talented junior pitcher Nolan Silberhorn then induced a routine double play ball to second baseman Devon Garcia that the gifted sophomore misplayed leading to two more runs after unsigned senior Michael Wagner ripped a two-run single to put the Knights up 3-0.

Max Lyon added two more insurance runs in the fourth, plating Lewis and Denison University recruit Matt Zmuda with a two-run double to push the Knights advantage to 5-0.

St. John's battled back in the seventh as nine-hole hitter Alex Gum led the inning off with a single and reached third after Garcia roped a double down the third-base line. Talented sophomore T.J. Lake plated Gum on a ground out, while Garcia scored on a sac fly to cut the lead to 5-2. But Wagner, the Knights' closer, struck out the final batter of the game to put St. Francis in control of the TRAC with three games to play.

After watching the Knights Saturday use six pitchers in a 13-inning classic against Clay, read here, the Knights used five pitchers to slow down the Titan hitters on Monday.

"We have nine quality pitchers that average less than two walks per game with a 1.80 ERA," said Gerken. "It makes it tough on your opponent because they get into a little bit of a rhythm (against the starter). Then you see another good guy, it's a little tougher of a game,” stated Gerken. “When you have the people to go to it's a lot of fun. You count on your seniors and if it's not one, it's been another.”

Unsigned senior Josh Williams got the start for St. Francis and looked the part on the mound going four shutout innings allowing just four hits while striking out three. 

Silberhorn (pictured), a talented 2014 RHP went five innings for the Titans striking out five, but was done in by his defense on the night.

Both teams have an array of talented 2014s and 2015s, to view scouting notes from this game, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week.

To view notes on unsigned senior Josh Williams please visit the Unsigned Senior Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week.

To discuss this game, please visit our partner JJHuddle.

Linescore

Toledo St. John's  000 000 2 - 2 10 2

Toledo St. Francis 001 220 x - 5 10 0

Winning pitcher: Josh Williams (4 innings, 0 runs, 4 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks). Others: Jake Lang, Kenzie Mayo, Matt Zmuda, Michael Wagner.

Losing pitcher: Nolan Silberhorn (5 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Jacek Czerwinski.

Leading hitters: (St. John's, 10 hits) - Devon Garcia single, double; Collin Kortz 2 singles; Alex Gum 2 singles. (St. Francis, 10 hits) - Matt Zmuda 2 singles; Max Lyon single, double; Michael Wagner 2 singles.