by Brunswick, OH – The St. Vincent-St. Mary Irish attacked early in the first inning to end the Highland Hornets season and capture the Division III Northeast 5 district championship.
Tyler Slone had a great game for the Irish on the mound, as he struck out 13 batters while giving up three hits and four walks. The only three hits for Highland came from a Casey Myser single in the first, a Dan Miller home run in the fourth, and a Colton Winston infield single in the fifth.
The Irish scored two of their three runs in the first inning when JJ Pytash hit a sacrifice fly to score Slone, and Ian Boykin scored the second run hustling from second on an infield hit the next at-bat. The Miller home run was nullified in the fifth when Pytash hit a home run around the same area of Miller’s the half inning before.
The Hornets had some chances to attack on SVSM, but Slone calmly got out of tough situations such as in the first inning. After giving up the Myser single, he got seniors Noah Radigan and Peyton Ganda out immediately thereafter. But none seemed to be more frustrating than the third inning, when they had a bases loaded situation with two outs, and Slone got Grady Gibb to strike out.
Highland’s starter Reid Oney lasted two innings in the contest, giving up just two runs, and his successor Cooper Richnafsky loaded the bases with two outs in the third. Lorenzo Nemec pitched the majority of the game going 3.1 innings and surrendering one run on the Pytash home run. Ganda finished the game on the mound for the Hornets, getting a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough for them to come back.
For the Hornets, it ends of the best seasons in school history as they finish 19-4. They swept the Suburban League for the first time since the formation of the American Conference and reached the district finals for the second consecutive year.
Next up for 20-8 SVSM will be either Tiffin Columbian or Wapakoneta on June 4th at Crushers Stadium in Avon. First pitch will be at 2 PM. The full game can be seen on WHBW on YouTube.
