The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
NDCL thorough in rout of rival Lake Catholic
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin was dominant in all facets in a 10-0 win over archrival Lake Catholic, including a three-run triple from Sam Slodic. Ben Hercik was on the scene and has a recap.
When rivals play each other, it is expected they will bring out the best in each other.
When Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin took on Lake Catholic on May 4, that is what happened for the Lions. On a day that saw six Lions record a hit, they also saw their pitching staff have a good showing, in a 10-0 shutout of the Cougars in nonconference action. The Lions improved to 10-8, while Lake Catholic now sits at 8-13-1.
While a lot of players saw success at the plate for the Lions, nobody saw more than Sam Slodic, who recorded four RBI in his first two atbats and three total hits on the day.
It was his second at-bat during the top of the third inning that saw Slodic’s power on display. The junior blasted a pitch deep into the outfield that landed just a few feet short of being a grand slam, but he settled for a baseclearing three-run triple.
NDCL 10, LAKE CATHOLIC 0
“I was looking for where the cutoff man was and how deep he was,” Slodic said. “I wanted to get the extra base, and when I saw where he was, I knew that I could.”
While Slodic finished the game with four RBI, his teammates also had good days hitting. Noah Rodgers recorded two RBI of his own, while Will Mann and Ethan Kotnik added RBI as well.
While their hitting was big for the day, the Lions also had an excellent performance from their pitching staff. It started with Kotnik going 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits with three strikeouts. Andrew Webb finished the shutout, only giving up one more hit. Coach Jim Clark saw his pitchers step up to the challenge at hand and perform at the levels he expected.
“Ethan has done a great job for us all year,” Clark said. “He’s pitched against really good competition all season, and he’s kept us in a lot of games in his starts. Today he stayed ahead of the hitters, and when they did have runners on base, he only got more competitive and had an all-around good day. Andrew closed the game, and despite them having a chance with the bases loaded, he picked up his level of focus and finished the job for us today.”
While hits were falling and runs were scoring for the Lions, the same could not be said for Lake Catholic. The Cougars had problems putting the ball in play, partly because of NDCL’s job in the field. Coach Brian LeRoy knew his team was in for a challenge.
“They were clean for the whole game, and that’s what you expect from NDCL,” LeRoy said. “They’re wellcoached, and the way they pitch and the way they field is what you would expect from them. The pitching did a good job keeping us off-balance, and they were throwing a lot of strikes, which is important in the high school game.”
The Cougars will attempt to find their way back to the win column when they take on Wickliffe in a nonconference matchup May 6, while NDCL will attempt to make it three wins in a row when it also heads out of conference to take on Aurora.