HIGH SCHOOL PREVIEW State tournament baseball

URSULINE (12-15) vs. ST. HENRY (28-3)
What: Division III semifinal.
When: 10 a.m. Friday.
Where: Cooper Stadium, Columbus.
Directions: Take I-77 south to I-70 west. Cooper Stadium is located off I-70, on the west side of town. Take the Mound Street exit (98B) and follow the signs to the stadium.
Ursuline scouting report: The Irish, coached by Sean Durkin, are making their fifth state tournament appearance, also having qualified in 2001, 2000, 1988 and 1984. They won the state title in 2000 with a 4-3 victory over Versailles and in 1988 with a 9-5 victory over Cincinnati McNicholas. The Irish were runners-up in 2001 after losing to Marion Pleasant 9-1, and they lost in the semifinals in 1984. Ursuline is led offensively by junior third baseman Brad Borghetti with a .380 average, followed by junior catcher Cliff Panezich (.368) and senior pitcher/second baseman Josh Conkey (.353). Conkey will get the start on the mound against St. Henry. He has a 7-2 record with a 2.20 ERA. The Irish's No. 2 pitcher is senior John Metzinger (4-2). On its way to the state tournament, Ursuline defeated Brookfield (6-3), Pymatuning Valley (7-2), Columbiana (6-0) and LaBrae (3-1) in the district and Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (7-6, 12 innings) and Elyria Catholic (5-3) in the regional. Durkin is in his sixth year as coach, having compiled an 87-70 career record. He was a member of Ursuline's '88 championship team, playing second base and pitching for coach Matt Giambattista.
Ursuline's probable starters: Josh Conkey (Sr., P); John Metzinger (Sr., 1B); Cliff Panezich (Jr., C); Brad Borghetti (Jr., 3B); Kevin Barry (Sr., DH); Brett Neely (Jr., LF); Ryan Coffey (Sr., RF); Pat Smith (Jr., SS); David Patrick (Fr., CF).
St. Henry scouting report: The Redskins, coached by John Dorner, also are making their fifth state tournament appearance, having won championships in 2000 and 1999 and finishing as runners-up in 1946 and 1945. The team batting average is a school-record .405, and six of the nine starters are batting over .400. The leader is Eric Schwieterman (.467), a senior center fielder and leadoff batter. On the mound, the aces are senior left-hander Phil Bruns (8-0, 0.94 ERA), junior right-hander Andy Dues (9-0, 1.67 ERA) and senior right-hander Todd Boeckman (6-0, 2.24 ERA, four saves). Either Dues or Bruns will start against Ursuline. Senior catcher Adam Gast has thrown out almost half of the attempted base stealers. The rest of the probable batting order following Eric Schwieterman are Evan Bertke (.463), a junior third baseman; Boeckman (.456), also a right fielder; Gast (.462), Bruns (.419), also a first baseman; Jeremy Schwieterman (.417), a junior shortstop; Lenny Koesters (.340), senior left fielder.; Bryan Post (.388), a junior designated hitter or first baseman; and Tom Wenning (.344), senior second baseman. St. Henry advanced to the state tournament by defeating Delphos Jefferson (10-0), Coldwater (10-5) and Archbold (2-1) in the district and Plain City Jonathan Alder (4-3) and Millbury Lake (4-2) in the regional. St. Henry was the top-ranked Div. III team in the state in the final regular season poll.
Radio: WBBW-AM 1240, WNIO-AM 1390.
Other semifinal: Gahanna Columbus Academy (27-4) vs. Gnadenhutten Indian Valley (25-7).
State championship: The winners will play at 3 p.m. Saturday at Cooper Stadium. WBBW and WNIO will broadcast the game if Ursuline plays.
-- Vindicator staff report