The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cards give coach his 100th win
Milestone victory occurs on Haase’s birthday
As far as birthdays for baseball coaches go, it would be pretty tough to top the one Mentor coach Jeff Haase had on a beautiful, 72-degree day on May 15.
The Cardinals rallied from a 4-0 deficit to knock off visiting St. Edward, 10-7. The icing on the cake: the win was the 100th for Haase at Mentor.
A six-run fourth inning gave Mentor the lead for good, as it turned out. Sophomore Cole Hemminger pitched the last 2 1/3 innings to earn a save and preserve the win.
“It’s great because we got our first Saturday win, and Coach got it on his birthday,” said Hemminger, who came on in relief of his brother Troy in the fifth inning. “We came back and battled (in a) tough game. So it was great.”
St. Edward (16-6-1) took control with a pair of runs in each of the second and third innings against Mentor senior starting pitcher Daniel Mulhall.
Mentor (16-7) got something going offensively in the bottom of the third when junior Brandon Panhorst singled with one out, then senior Cael Gray drove him home with a resounding triple that reached the fence in right field before scoring himself on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 4-2.
A sacrifice fly by Ryan Miklich plated Blake Buzzeo in the fourth to extend the Eagles’ lead to 5-2. But as often happens in baseball, the game’s trajectory quickly changed.
Ten Cardinals came up to bat in the bottom of the frame, as Mentor combined three hits with a pair of hit batsmen and took advantage of two throwing errors by the Eagles to rack up six runs and take a 8-5 lead.
Mentor tied the game on a RBI single by Aiden Limtury after an errant throw allowed Eric Coode and Noah Gladish to score. A two-run double by Adian Buckley and RBI single by Hal Walker gave the lead, and momentum, to the Cardinals.
“We’ve been getting better and better as the season’s gone on. But we preach to the guys, it’s not how you start but how you end the year,” Haase said. “If you look at today’s game, the first two innings were kind of rough for us, then we kind of picked up the intensity, started putting the ball in play a little more and putting pressure on them, and I think that made all the difference.”
Ryan Rosfelder doubled home a run with two outs in the fifth, and Christian Ramos drove him home with a single to draw St. Edward within, 8-7, prompting Haase to call on Hemminger, who gave up a walk before getting a strikeout to end the rally.
A two-run double by Mulhall in the bottom of the fifth gave Hemminger a little cushion. The sophomore allowed a few baserunners in the last two innings, including two walks to start the seventh, but came through to help his team to the big win.
St. Edward had won 11 of its previous 12 games coming in. Rosfelder had three hits, and Ramos and Tommy Harrison had two each for the Eagles.
“It was a good baseball game, kind of back and forth,” St. Edward coach Matt Rosinski said. “Credit to Mentor for putting up that six-spot in the fourth inning. I think our guys swung the bats really well and competed really well. We want a game like this, a close game, because we want to simulate the playoffs. I think both teams take a ton of positives out of today’s game.”
Mentor has won eight of its last nine, and is in good form as the regular season winds down. A split with the tandem of St. Ignatius ( a 7-4 loss) and St. Edward is a big confidence-builder.
“It’s huge,” said Gray, who made a leaping grab at shortstop of a sharp line drive in the fourth inning. “Playoffs are right around the corner, and you’ve got to have momentum going in.”
Getting Haase to 100 wins made the victory over the Eagles that much sweeter.
“It’s awesome,” Gray said. “On his birthday, too. Just an unbelievable feeling.”
Mentor will travel to Berea-Midpark for a regular season-game on May 18 before hosting a Division I sectional final against Canton McKinley or Massillon Perry on May 20.
But first, a bit of celebration and recognition is in order.
“It feels good to get 100 wins here,” Haase said. “There’s been so many great coaches before me, and to get this in the right position, I feel honored.”