by This is sponsored by – https://keeonsports.com/sponsors/
North Royalton, OH- While this game was only a scrimmage, history was made as North Royalton won the first ever contest on the new turf baseball field 11-0 over Holy Name.
The top of the first was about as perfect as the Bears would have hoped as the Green Wave went in order. Starting pitcher Brady Sasse struck out Adam Humenik and Michael Oleksik. The other out was from an Ishmael Sostre groundout. In the home half of the inning, HN had a slight scare. With one out, Mario Escano smoked the ball into the outfield for a double. The Green and White’s starter Dom Marchetta settled back in and struck out the side.
Sasse’s dominance continued in the second inning as he struck out the side. Joey Ragone and Nick Nemeth went down looking while Mikey Tworzydlo went down swinging. With one out in the bottom half of the inning, North Royalton got first blood. Jake Paluczak was on first after reaching via a single. Antonio Escano stepped into the box and cranked the ball well into the outfield for an RBI triple. After a few walks, Marchetta hit Cody Miller to send in another run. On the next at-bat, Mario Escano grounded out to close the second inning with North Royalton up 2-0.
For the second straight inning, Sasse struck out the side. However, Josh Kell would reach first base as the ball got past catcher Patrick Farrell. Sasse, unfazed, struck out Humenik to get his fourth strikeout of the frame. The Bears offense added more insurance courtesy of a Paluczak RBI single. Russell Masetta closed out his inning on the mound by striking out Antonio Escano to retire the side and earn his second strikeout.
Holy Name saw a familiar face on the mound in the fourth inning as former Namer Joe Kinney came on to pitch. Joe and his brother Mike (who graduated in 2023 from NR) went to HN until both transferred after the 2021/22 school year. Oleksik took advantage of this familiarity and sent the ball down the right field line for a single after making prior foul contact. Kinney locked back in and struck out Ragone and Anthony Messina to end the frame. In the bottom half of the inning, the Bears added two more runs on RBI singles from Mario Escano and Miller. Heading into the fifth, North Royalton led 5-0.
Kinney remained on the bump for the Bears as he faced another lefty in Marchetta. He would go on to reach via an error by the second baseman. Other than that, Kinney held down the fort and kept the shutout intact. Once again, North Royalton added two runs to their tally as they led 7-0 heading into the sixth.
Holy Name was once again held scoreless in the sixth, but Danny Stibley lined a base hit up the middle. However, Nick Carozza, the relief pitcher for the Bears, finished the job by striking out Nate Csank. In the bottom half of the inning, Nemeth struck out the side but was denied a 1-2-3 inning due to a passed ball.
Carozza struck out the side to end the top half of the inning with North Royalton up 7-0. Usually, the game would have ended, and the Bears would have sealed the win. However, since this was a scrimmage, the bottom half of the inning was still played. In that inning, four runs were added to North Royalton’s tally as the game ended 11-0.
Holy Name has a few more scrimmages before they travel to Mentor to face Lake Catholic on March 27. North Royalton welcomes Riverside to their new turf on March 23 to open their regular season.
Holy Name Key Players
#14 Nick Nemeth: 1 IP, 0 Hits, 0 Earned Runs, 3 K’s
#17 Michael Oleksik: 1 for 2, Single
#24 Danny Stibley: 1 for 1, Single, Stolen Base
North Royalton Key Players
#1 Brady Sasse: 3 IP, 0 Hits, 0 Earned Runs, 9 K’s
#12 Mario Enscano: 3 for 5, 2 Doubles, Single, 3 RBI’s, 1 Stolen Base
#14 Jake Paluczak: 2 for 3, 2 Singles, 1 RBI, 1 Stolen Base
Player of the Game: Brady Sasse
