Mentor reaches district final

Nick Smith’s teammates call him “Sticks” for the eye-popping .429 batting average the Mentor shortstop owns. Smith’s bat is much louder than the senior swinging it, who likes to lead but, admittedly, not with his words.

Against Chardon in a Euclid District semifinal on May 18, Smith’s stick wasn’t his most vital contribution to a 5-3 Cardinals win. Smith collected three hits but also threw five innings of one-run baseball to send Mentor through to a district final matchup with Mayfield on May 19.

“I’m not worried about stats,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, if we get the ‘W’ I couldn’t care less what I do. I just want to make sure that I’m helping my teammates out the best that I can, every day.”

Smith is part of a leadership core that includes fellow three-year starters Nathan Birtley, Tommy Noll and Matt Detering. Each made a significant impact on Mentor’s victory — one that helped erase the memory of a 5-0 loss to North in last year’s district semifinal.

Birtley went 3-for-5 with a double that drove in a seventh-inning insurance run after Chardon closed within 4-3. Detering lined a sharp single to right that passed the right fielder and allowed a run to score.

Noll drove in a run, which resulted as the game-winner, to counter Joe Skilton’s home run in the home fourth. Noll ended the Hilltoppers’ second when he caught Perry Bewley attempting to steal third on Adam Shuppe’s walk.

Each knows what the other needs at a given moment, and what’s needed for Mentor to succeed.

“We’ve been playing together since we were 10 years old,” Smith said. “I think we all have great chemistry. We all look to each other whether we’re down, we’re up, we all get each other going. I think that’s what’s special about this team.”

When postseason situations arise, Mentor’s leaders embody the standard to which Coach Jeff Haase hopes their teammates will rise. Their presence is only topped by execution.

“It’s not a surprise they’re doing the things that they’re doing,” Haase said. “It’s that they’re doing it and they just seem to keep getting better and better.”

As a result of their play, Haase is seeing the Mentor team he and his coaching staff thought they had all along. The Cardinals slogged to a sub-.500 record through 16 games, but currently ride a nine-game winning streak with injuries, growing pains and the grueling Greater Cleveland Conference schedule behind them.

Smith’s desire to see his team excel was apparent in his enthusiasm over Squire Chapman’s relief appearance. Smith, who was non-plussed by the subject of his own quality performance, called the junior’s four-out save “exciting” to watch.

Chapman entered with the bases loaded in the sixth and left them that way with a strikeout of Dylan Hemly.

He worked around a leadoff walk to secure Mentor’s win. Chapman will start in the district final against Mayfield.

“He’s got a lot of confidence,” Haase said. “He’s a kid with great stuff and a huge upside. We really like the way he’s progressed all year. He’s gotten better and better and better.”