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Parma Heights, OH- Lakewood rides the high of their walk-off win Monday night to take down Holy Name 8-2, completing the season sweep.
On the mound for the Green Wave this afternoon was sophomore Russell Masetta. This was his first career varsity start and it did not take him long to settle in. He recorded two first-inning strikeouts as the side went in order. The other out came from Cooper Russell lining out to third base where Brendon Preisel snagged the missile. In the home half of the inning, HN went in order with Dom Marchetta striking out to end the first.
The Ranger offense found their footing in the second inning. Nick Hart hit a leadoff double. Logan Ellis would advance him to third on a sacrifice bunt. On the following at-bat, Drew Jablonowski hit a sacrifice fly to right field as Hart tagged up to open the scoring. Andrew Krankowski would proceed to pop-out to Adam Humenik at shortstop to end the top half of the frame. Mikey Klasa continued to deal on the mound for Lakewood as he once again retired the Namers in order.
The Rangers continued to roll in the third inning. Brady Long reached on an error to get things underway. He would get into scoring position with a stolen bag, setting up Russell for an RBI single. Riley Verderber hit a single of his own on the following at bat. However, Joey Ragone caught him stealing second. Heading into the home half of the frame, HN trailed 3-0. For the third inning in a row, the Green Wave went in order. After one time through the order, Klasa had five strikeouts.
After a few tough innings, Masetta was able to get the Rangers to go in order as his afternoon on the mound concluded. In the home half of the inning, Humenik would record the Green and White’s first hit of the ballgame. However, Ellis gunned him down stealing second. This completed a double play that began with Marchetta striking out, ending the inning.
The Lakewood offense got back to their scoring ways in the fifth as they plated two more runs. Preisel would finish the inning for HN after relieving Josh Kell following four walks in a row. In the home half of the inning, the Namers went in order for the fourth inning out of five. Heading into the sixth, Lakewood controlled the contest 5-0.
The top of the sixth inning can be simply called the Marchetta Masterclass. All three outs were recorded by Marchetta in right field and all of them were flyouts. Unfortunately, this didn’t lead to an offensive spark as Klasa recorded his eighth strikeout of the game en route to another 1-2-3 inning.
In the seventh, the Rangers added three runs to their lead on a Verderber RBI single and an Ellis two-RBI single. The sticks got rolling in the home half of the inning for HN as Harrison Frank hit a double to get things underway. He pitched the night before and took his no-hit bid into the seventh where Lakewood took home the win. Humenik followed up with a walk. Marchetta would proceed to reach on an E4 to load the bases. Nemeth would get an RBI on the following at-bat via a fielder’s choice. Ragone would hit the ball up the gut but reached on another error from the defense. However, the game would end as Lakewood turned two to confirm the 8-2 victory.
Holy Name now sits at 0-9 with a trip out to Akron up next on Wednesday as they will battle Archbishop Hoban. Lakewood is now 9-2 on the campaign with a home game up next against Elyria Catholic Thursday night.
Holy Name Key Players
#8 Harry Frank: 1-3, Double
#11 Adam Humenik: 1-2, Walk
Lakewood Key Players
#11 Mikey Klasa: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 8 K’s
#21 Nick Hart: 1-2, Double, 2 Walks, 1 RBI, 1 SB
#23 Cooper Russell: 2-3, 1 RBI, 2 SB, Walk
Player of the Game: Mikey Klasa
