Buckeye and Bearcat Commits Lead Walsh Jesuit Over Mentor, 5-0

Photo by Al Kornspan

Mentor –  Ohio State Buckeyes commit Mason Eckelman was 3-4 and University of Cincinnati commit, Drew Erdmann, threw 4 ⅔ innings of shutout baseball to lead Walsh Jesuit over Mentor, 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Walsh Jesuit got on the scoreboard early when Zach Halligan drove in Joey Canzoni, also a UC Bearcat commit, to take a 1-0 lead.

After Eckelman doubled in the third inning, Halligan drove in his second run of the game on a single to centerfield to give Walsh Jesuit a 2-0 lead.  

In the post-game interview, Eckelman described his excellent approach and performance at the plate.

“I thought our approach was there, we were living opposite side of the field,” said Eckelman.“Me personally, I was just waiting for one to get in the zone, and drive it to where it was pitched.  That happened to be on the outside corner most of the game.  So I was just taking care of business going station to station.”

Walsh Jesuit would plate two more runs in the top of the 5th and add an additional run in the sixth to complete the scoring for the day.  

Also contributing to the offensive production for the Warriors were college commits, John Simicek (St. Xavier University), who was 2-4 on the day, and Alejandro Covas (Youngstown State University), and Justin Bremner (Canisius College) who both had hits.  

On the mound for the Warriors, the UC Bearcat commit, Erdmann was dominant.  

Reaching 91 mph on the radar, and sitting at between 89-90, Erdmann struck out 8, and did not give up a hit in 4 and ⅔ innings of work.  

“We were great today, we got the bats going a little early,” said Erdmann.  “We jumped to the lead, we had a great defense behind us. Mason played a great game behind the dish, and we just did our thing. We brought the energy and finished them off.”

 

John Carroll commit, Kevin Holland relieved Erdmann and pitched 1 ⅔ scoreless innings of baseball. Senior pitcher, Lukas Simone recorded the final out for the Warriors.

With the victory, the Warriors who were the third ranked Ohio Division I team in the Prep Baseball Report preseason rankings, moved to 2-1 on the season.

The Warriors next play April 15th in the Thurman Munson/Hank Miller Classic.

Mentor next takes on Medina on Monday.