By Dan Machovina
PBR Ohio Assistant Scouting Director

STRONGSVILLE, OHIO – Ranked No. 8 in the latest PBR Rankings, Mentor HS (10-2) came to Strongsville HS (10-9) with ace junior right-handed pitcher Kade McClure (Louisville recruit) on the mound.

Due to a teacher’s union strike at Strongsville HS, the Mustangs have been without three of their coaches who teach at the school, and one of them happened to be head coach, Josh Sorge.

On Sunday, the Strongsville HS strike ended after an agreement was reached. For the first time all season, the three Mustang coaches were able to step foot on their home field and join the remaining coaching staff to help coach their Mustang baseball team where they belong.

So, today marked the start of a new season for the Mustangs.

Mentor HS struck first in the second inning with a single up the middle from junior first-baseman Sam Vilk. Then, with runners in scoring position senior center-fielder Albert Giebel delivered a two-out RBI double to left field.

Strongsville got on the board in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Senior left-fielder Brad Hajdin walked and then stole second base. Next, second-baseman senior Ben Szymczak ripped an RBI double to left-field to tie the game at one a piece. However, Strongsville was not done yet. Junior short-stop Jordan Sedivy drove in another run after hitting a single up the middle to score Szymczak to give Strongsville a 2-1 advantage.

Mentor fought right back in the top half of the fifth inning when Vilk smacked an RBI single back up the middle to tie the game at two runs apiece.

With the scored tied at 2-2 in the bottom half of the seventh, senior center-fielder Brad Wiemken took advantage of a fastball up in the zone early in the count and ripped a lead-off double to right-field. Coming up to the plate next was senior first-baseman Austin Previt, who drove the ball to right field delivering the game winning RBI single to right field.

Strongsville right-handed pitcher sophomore Alex Barnes pitched five innings of six hit, two run baseball against a solid Mentor Cardinal’s lineup.

The tough luck loser in this one was standout Kade McClure. The right-hander threw the whole game striking out eight, giving up four hits, three runs, while only walking two batters. 

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

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