Comets blank Eagles to advance

Amherst is back in the Division I regional semifinals for the first time since 2016 as the topseeded Comets beat No. 2 St. Edward, 4-0, May 17 at the Pipe Yard behind pitcher Jack Faight’s complete-game shutout.

Amherst advances to a Division I Bowling Green/Parma regional semifinal to face Strongsville on May 24.

It’s the second game in a row Amherst (24-4), the top-ranked team in D-I in the final OHSBCA poll of the season, has gotten an incredible performance from its starting pitcher.

Evan Shawver recorded 12 strikeouts in seven innings pitched against Olmsted Falls in the semifinal and Faight turned around and bested his teammate — arguably the best pitcher in the state.

The senior gave up a single hit and struck out 14 batters, working his offspeed to keep St. Edward (22-6) guessing at the plate all game.

“It was a lot of fun throwing a lot of curves,” Faight said. “That was the approach to hit (St. Edward) with a lot of offspeed, mix them up then hit them with the fastball.”

Faight struck out the lead-off hitter in the first inning but struggled with control as he walked the next two batters.

According to Faight, that’s just how his outings normally go and there was no concern he’d lose control as the game wore on, especially when catcher Hunter Cassidy talked him through the first inning, calming his nerves as he talked him through his release.

“Sometimes on Jack’s curveball or slider which moves a ton, he’ll start releasing it too far on the side and not getting his pointer finger and middle finger on top of the ball so I just have to remind him sometimes,” Cassidy said.

“It’s always a little slower for me. I’m a mid-game pitcher,” Faight added. “The first couple innings are usually a little slower than even that. That was actually surprisingly better than how it usually goes.”

Amherst turned around in the home half of the first and capitalized on a pair of St. Edward errors, scoring

two runs when Ryan Glowacki’s routine single rolled right by the Eagles’ center fielder as he helplessly watched the Comets take the lead.

They added insurance runs in both the second and fourth innings and of the four total runs scored, none were earned as St. Edward was plagued by fielding miscues, and with Faight dealing all game, the pressure became too much for the Eagles to overcome.

“You’re gonna have one of these games you just hope it doesn’t happen when it matters most,” St. Edward coach Matt Rosinski said. “Their pitcher, man, I don’t know if we would’ve scored one run today.

“He was throwing both pitches whenever he wanted to, where he wanted to, kept our hitters off balance and we just couldn’t do enough to put the ball in play.”