Mignogna’s walk-off hit sends ND past Princeton

LAWRENCE » When Ryan Mignogna stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with one out and a runner on second he didn’t want to overthink the situation.

The Notre Dame junior just wanted to put the ball in play.

He put it in a spot where no one could catch it, giving the Irish a thrilling 2-1 walk-off win over Princeton High on Tuesday afternoon in a Colonial Valley Conference

game played on ND’s Fr. John D’Onofrio field.

“I didn’t want to do too much at the plate,” said Mignogna, of his fifth RBI in ND’s two games. “Once Gavin (Martin, who singled and stole second) started it, I knew I should put a ball in play and do something with it.”

Mignogna did as he sent a ball to the gap in left center as Martin raced home with the winning run.

“I thought maybe it was going to hang up there and then I saw it get down and I knew we got it,” said Mignogna. “It feels good to have a hit like that.”

While the Irish (2-0) made it two wins from two after an opening-day pasting of Steinert, it was a great opening game for Princeton (0-1). The Tigers, behind the brilliant pitching of Tommy Delany, had a slim 1-0 lead until ND tied it in the sixth.

“Anytime Tommy (Delany) pitches this is what you are going to get,” said Princeton coach Dom Capuano. “They are one of the top teams in the county and he shut them down. We are a young team. It’s tough to try and be positive, but we’ll build from it and get better.”

Delany, who is headed to Penn, worked five innings, yielded no runs, gave up three hits, struck out four and walked three. Jaxon Petrone relieved Delany and suffered the loss.

ND’s Kenny Schirmer was just as tough. He allowed one run in the third on a pair of doubles by Jensen Bergman and an RBI twobagger by Flynn Kinney.

Schirmer worked four innings gave up four hits and fanned seven. Jack Marchese came in and gave up one hit, but he retired the seven to keep the Irish close and earn the mound win,

“Princeton battled and we have to tip our hats to them,” said ND coach Joe Drulis. “I’m proud of our fellows how they kept battling and we found a way to win. Gavin (Martin) got the big hit up the middle, steals second and Ryan does a great piece of hitting to win the game. We found a way to win and good teams do that.” Princeton (0-1) 001 000 0 — 1

Notre Dame (2-0) 000 001 1 — 2

WP: Marchese. LP: Jax Petrone. 2B: P: Bergman, Kinney. RBI: P: Kinney. ND: Morrison, Mignogna