HS Baseball Playoffs: Norton Downs Cleveland Central Catholic 19-0 Behind DeDominic No-Hitter

The Norton Panthers kicked off their postseason run in style Monday, taking down Cleveland Central Catholic 19-0. Senior right-hander Jacob DeDominic turned in a dominant performance on the mound, collecting ten strikeouts in a complete game, no-hit effort. Paul Mattei led the way for the Panthers offensively, going 3-3 with a triple and four runs scored. Junior Tyler Koger put up a 3-5 performance with 5 RBI.

Leading off the bottom of the first, Ronnie Ammons hit a double to left and came around to score on an RBI groundout from Luke Senderak to put Norton up 1-0. Koger hit a two-out double to left, scoring Mattei and Jacob Ford. After Koger crossed the plate himself, the Panthers held a 4-0 lead after one.

Norton picked up right where they left off in the second as Mattei reached on a single to left-center. Mattei would come in to score on an RBI groundout from Justin Fuller. Up came Koger, who came up with his second big hit in as many innings, this time bringing home Senderak to Ford to extend the Panther lead to 7-0. Koger and Kellen Meyer crossed the plate on a single from Andrew Lewis to push the lead to 9-0 after two innings.

After a flyout started the home half of the third, Mattei laced a triple to the left field wall. Senderak then hit an RBI single to score Mattei. Justin Fuller would reach base on a single, but Ironmen starting pitcher Brian Neace got out of the jam with Norton leading 10-0 at the end of three.

The Panthers’ offense exploded for nine runs in their final at-bat of the game. Runs were scored by Landon Abernathy, Mattei, Senderak, Fuller, and Koger, while Kory Carneal and Caiden Shockey scored twice. When all was said and done, the Panthers held a 19-0 lead after four.

In the top of the fifth, DeDominic struck out all three batters he faced, giving Norton a 19-0 opening-round victory over the Ironmen of Cleveland Central Catholic. 

Up Next

With the big opening-round victory, the Panthers advance to the sectional championship, where they will face the Benedictine Bengals. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday at League Park in Cleveland.

Top Performers

Norton Panthers

Jacob DeDominic: 5 IP 0 H 3 BB 10 K

Paul Mattei: 3-3 3B 3 R

Tyler Koger: 3-4 5 RBI 3 R