Saint Ignatius pulls away early, holds off North Ridgeville for 6-4 win
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST. | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| NOR | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Saint Ignatius built its advantage inning by inning and then made it stand up Thursday night, defeating North Ridgeville 6-4 at North Ridgeville High School. The Wildcats scored in each of the first five innings, and that steady offensive pressure proved decisive when the Rangers made a two-run push in the seventh.
The Wildcats set the tone right away with a run in the first, added another in the second, then delivered the game’s biggest surge in the third. Saint Ignatius plated two runs in that inning to stretch the lead to 4-1, then kept the momentum with single runs in the fourth and fifth for a 6-2 cushion. North Ridgeville answered with one run in the second and one more in the third, but the Wildcats consistently had a response and never let the Rangers pull even.
Marcus Tekancic helped power the lineup with a triple, two hits and an RBI, while Ryan Whelan scored twice and collected two hits of his own. Jackson Anthony drove in a run and scored once, Maxwell Hirsch added an RBI, and A.J. Peluso also knocked in a run as Saint Ignatius finished with seven hits. The Wildcats also took advantage of North Ridgeville’s three errors and paired that clean offensive approach with error-free defense.
On the mound, Saint Ignatius got a winning effort from Trey Powers, who worked 3.0 innings and allowed two runs on two hits while striking out four. As a staff allowed four hits and four runs, three of them earned, while recording eight strikeouts. North Ridgeville drew six walks, but Saint Ignatius limited the damage for most of the night and kept the Rangers from producing a big inning until the final frame.
That late rally gave the finish some tension. North Ridgeville scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to trim the margin to two, but the Wildcats closed it out before the comeback could go any further. The result capped a sharp seven-inning performance in which Saint Ignatius out-hit the Rangers 7-4, played cleanly in the field and turned an early scoring rhythm into another encouraging win for the freshman group.
Next up for the Wildcats is the always tough Jesuit Tournament. The Cats will travel to Toledo St John and take on St. John in game one on Saturday.
