Walsh Jesuit three-run homer sinks Mayfield

Walsh struck early against Mayfield in their Division I district final on May 25 at Nordonia with a run in the first inning. The Wildcats responded with a run of their own in the top of the third as Drew Pattie drove in a run on a basesloaded single.

However, the Warriors responded in the bottom half of the inning with a three-run home run by John Simecek to put momentum back in favor of Walsh Jesuit.

The Warriors poured it on in the sixth with five more runs for their 10-1 victory

Walsh Jesuit meets North Canton Hoover in the regional semifinal in Louisville on June 2.

While they had finally clawed back into the game, Mayfield had no answer for the three-run shot. Wildcats coach Darren Rapposelli knew that it wasn’t the end of the game and his team had time to respond. But as the innings wore on, he knew that it became more of a challenge to answer.

“There was a curveball right down the middle that should have been strike three but then there was a flyball to left that was misplayed,” said Rapposelli. “The next guy was able to convert that error into a three-run home run. It should’ve been 1-1 at the end of that inning but we weren’t out of it yet and had chances to get back in the game but it did then turn into a dagger.”

It was still within reach for the Wildcats, as they were able to get runners on base multiple times through the remainder of the game. But once the initial runners got on, the Mayfield bats went silent as they left eight runners on base.

Walsh Jesuit pitchers combined for eight strikeouts and gave up six hits. The strong pitching performance for Walsh Jesuit, especially when Mayfield had runners in scoring position, was something that the Mayfield offense couldn’t account for.

“It was a great job by the first guys in the recipe,” said Rapposelli. “They did what they were supposed to do and we just couldn’t close it out. As far as their pitcher, we swung through some pitches and didn’t execute. It wasn’t anything dominant but the bottom line is that we were able to start and not able to finish.”

Mayfield loses a bevy of senior leaders but was able to get a number of bench players looks in the postseason. Rapposelli knows this will help with the transition to them being prepared for important positions for next season as Mayfield looks to replicate this season’s run.

“Guys like Joey Barch and Rocco Monastero stepping into key spots and earning their positions were huge,” said Rapposelli. “That experience playing against a team like Walsh will go a long way and help show them what high school baseball is all about. We had pinch runners and young pitchers that pitched a lot of complete games on JV in the dugout as well. That way it’s not a big change come next season.”