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Cardinal Mooney outlasts Poland, 9-8
Photo
Poland catcher Nick Andrews, left, reacts after Cardinal Mooney’s Drew Wollet (8) scored on an error during a Division II district semifinal Monday at Cene Park in Struthers. The Cardinals edged the Bulldogs, 9-8.
By Joe Catullo Jr.
STRUTHERS
Trailing by three in the third inning, Cardinal Mooney baseball coach Al Franceschelli made a pitching move that changed the game’s complexion.
He pulled Joe Cunningham with two outs after allowing five runs and went to Kane Durkin in Monday’s Division II district semifinal.
“Our junior kind of ran out of gas early,” Franceschelli said. “We had to make a tough decision in the early part of the game. I thank God that I went that way because I hesitated for a second.”
The Cardinals then scored seven consecutive runs with Durkin pitching before running into trouble against Poland in the top of the sixth inning. Nick Andrews, Austin Beil and Chris Elliott hit back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles with two outs.
“I left a couple of pitches high, and their middle of the order is great,” Durkin said. “They have good power hitters, and I left the ball high.”
After Franceschelli jogged to the mound, Durkin calmed down and didn’t allow another base runner in Mooney’s 9-8 victory.
“We were going to win or lose with him,” Franceschelli said. “I hated to burn him out today, but he was the guy who was going to win it or lose it.”
Durkin pitched 41/3 third innings, allowed three runs on five hits (four doubles) and struck out seven.
While Mooney’s pitching change in the top of the third was its biggest difference, Poland’s occurred in the bottom half of the frame when 11 Cardinals plated five runs.
“We played some terrible defense that inning,” Poland coach Rich Murray said.
The Bulldogs (13-12) held an early 3-0 lead after Mooney committed two errors in the top of the first and 5-2 going into the bottom of the third.
“They had a bad inning to start the game,” Murray said. “[We] hoped to capitalize on it a little more and get a few more runs. We got a nice lead, exactly what we wanted to do. We just weren’t able to hold it.”
In that first inning, Mooney almost lost their captain. The game’s third pitch nicked catcher Drew Delsignore, and he walked to the dugout in frustration.
“I’m not going to say where it hit me,” Delsignore said. “It got me in the bad spot. I got hit there before, so I know how it felt. I knew that if I took some time it would eventually go away.”
Delsignore returned after a five-minute rest. He helped Durkin mix his fastball with a hard cutter and collected two RBIs.
“I was really concerned because the injury was a lot more serious than he wanted to let us know,” Franceschelli said. “But you know something, he’s a tough kid and our captain pound for pound, and I’ve never had anybody tougher. He wasn’t walking off at this stage.”
Mooney (19-7) will face Struthers today at Cene Park for a Division II district title.
“I think it’s going to be a fun game,” Franceschelli said. “They’ve knocked down some really good teams, and they were supposed to lose every time. We’re going to come out and give it 100 percent because it’s do or die tomorrow.”