The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rusty Mentor finds gear in nick of time
Any time teams or players have a 633-day layoff, there is going to be some rust that has to be shaken off.
That was very obvious at the beginning of Mentor’s game against Medina. While the Bees were able to take an early lead, they couldn’t keep up with the pace the Cardinals had as the game wore on.
After the game was deadlocked at 2 for three innings, a four-run bottom of the sixth was key as Mentor took the win, 6-2, in a Greater Cleveland Conference matchup April 2.
The game was the first in Mentor’s season and moves the Cardinals to 1-0 on the year, while Medina falls to 2-2.
It took two innings for Cardinals pitcher Aiden Limtury to find his rhythm, but he finished with four strikeouts and a walk to get the win.
The offense also took an inning to find its rhythm, with only one of the first four batters advancing to base to start the game. While it wasn’t long before the rust began to decay, it was apparent at the beginning of the game. Mentor coach Jeff Haase attest to the fact of not only the rust, but new faces and the usual jitters were factors at the start.
“When you haven’t played for so long, and there’s so many new faces combined with the old faces from that 2019 team, you’re going to have nerves, anxiety and things like that,” Haase said.
“It’s just a matter of shaking things loose and getting comfortable in the flow of the game.” Even though Medina took the early lead with a RBI by Drew Lazor in the top of the second, Mentor’s Cael Gray gave Mentor the 2-1 lead thanks to a two-RBI double. “It helped fire us up,” Gray said. “We had energy coming out already, but being down a run, we needed something big, we had an opportunity, and brought in two runs to help jump-start our offense.” After another Lazor RBI to tie the game back up in the top of the third, Limtury and Jake Johnson got into their zones and another run wasn’t scored until the sixth. Johnson had a great outing, throwing 10 strikeouts and only giving up two hits. Haase and the Cardinals knew they were going to have a challenge. “He has a great changeup, and we didn’t do a great job adjusting to it,” Haase said. “We knew he was a good pitcher and had been a four-year starter for Medina. We expected to see him, and maybe next time we can have a little better approach to him.” After taking Johnson out of the game, Mentor was able to take the lead off an RBI double from Evan Boyd, and two wild throws saw Boyd and Daniel Mulhall steal home. “After a perfect bunt by Logan Yearly, we knew that after that, we needed something in play,” Boyd said. “If that happened, then we would be able to get the runs that we needed. After that, we were just able to keep it rolling.” Both teams have quick turnarounds, with Mentor traveling to North on April 3, and Medina will travel to Olmsted Falls the same day.