by Mentor, Ohio – The Mentor Cardinals, thanks to a six-run third inning, defeated visiting Eastlake North, 13-3.
After a scoreless first inning from both teams, Mentor jumped on top in the bottom of the second inning.
Cole Henninger delivered a double. He advanced to third thanks to a wild pitch, and scored due to another, putting Mentor ahead, 1-0.
Peyton Zupancic followed with a two-out, two run double to left field to increase the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0.
Eastlake North battled back with three in the top of the third to tie the game.
Ethan Zele hit a single to right field to put the Rangers on the board. They scored again on a balk by pitcher Will Compton, and Sean Register hit a game-tying RBI single to left field.
Mentor responded in a big way in their half of the third.
The Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out, setting the table for senior Vito Scotese. He laced a two-run double to put the Cardinals ahead, 5-3.
Mentor added another run due to an error, and Nick Square added an RBI single to pad the lead to 7-3. Peyton Zupancic added a sac-fly for the sixth run of the inning.
North loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but couldn’t push across any runs.
Mentor added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. One of them came on a sac fly from Zupancic. The other came on a wild pitch, and another came from a double by Collin Orosz.
Caden Risma hit a two-out triple in the bottom of the sixth to end the game.
Sophomore outfielder Nick Square went 4-4 with a pair of doubles, and a pair of singles, including an RBI single in the bottom of the third.
His classmate Peyton Zupancic had a pair of RBI sac flys and an RBI double to left field. In total, 11 Cardinals reached base to the tune of a dozen hits.
Mentor (1-4) hosts North Canton Hoover in a non-conference matchup Saturday afternoon.
Eastlake North (3-4) hosts Olmsted Falls in a non-conference matchup Saturday afternoon.
