Irish put Conkey at ease

A first-inning double play helped the pitcher, whose two-hitter stopped Columbiana.
By Paul Trgovac
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Ursuline High began the Division III baseball tournament with only six wins, but, behind the two-hit shutout pitching of Josh Conkey, the Irish won their third straight in the postseason, defeating 6-0 Columbiana in a district semifinal Monday at Cene Park.
Ursuline will face LaBrae at 6:30 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to next week's regional tournament in Massillon.
Ursuline scored two unearned runs in the first inning off losing pitcher Brett Seybert (6-3). Cliff Panezich scored the first run on an error and Brett Neely drove home the second run with a single.
In the bottom of the first, Columbiana got a man on board with a one-out walk, but the Irish turned a double play behind Conkey to end the inning.
Key play
"That double play was a key for the game," Ursuline coach Sean Durkin said. "Josh was a little tight and too excited early but the double play settled him down."
Conkey (6-2) allowed just two hits -- both by No. 9 hitter Jared Patton -- and struck out nine with only one walk. He has won all three of Ursuline's tournament games.
"[Conkey] has been the story," Durkin said. "He is one of our senior leaders and has shown it in the tournament."
Ursuline's Pat Smith reached base to lead off the fourth inning and scored on Conkey's one-out single. John Metzinger then singled to put runners on the corners, and with two outs Brad Borghetti and Barry each hit RBI singles.
Barry drove home the last Irish run with a double in the sixth inning.
"We did a good job of taking pitches and being patient at the plate," Durkin said. "We made Seybert work hard and throw a lot of pitches. We thought this would be a low-scoring game and, after we got up five, we really felt confident."
Seybert allowed four earned runs, striking out five and walking seven. He threw 155 pitches, while Conkey threw just 92.
Columbiana had just two runners reach second base in the game and had two men on base in an inning just once, in the sixth. Conkey faced only three men over the minimum and threw a first pitch strike to 16 batters.