Ursuline freshman tosses 7-hitter in district final win

The Irish will play in Massillon's regional semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- In what was arguably his team's most important game of the season, Ursuline coach Sean Durkin turned to a freshman pitcher.
Dodging raindrops from the third inning on, Shawn Roman fashioned a complete game seven-hitter as Ursuline defeated Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, 9-2, at Cene Park Friday to capture a Division III district baseball championship.
Roman was helped by his offense which pounded out 14 hits, including three each by David Patrick, Matt Yarab and Todd Finn.
"I got the ball from Coach Durkin right around fifth period in school," Roman said. "I didn't have much time to think about the consequences.
"I was a little surprised to get the start, but it's definitely much easier to pitch with a lead and our offense really helped me out when they got me five runs in the first three innings."
Coach's agenda
Not telling Roman he was going to get the start was Durkin's plan all along.
Hoping to get the offense and defense to back up Roman was the other half of the equation.
"As it turned out, we had an excellent overall game. We did a great job offensively both at the plate and on the basepaths. That is what kept the pressure on Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary right from the outset," Durkin said.
"When I handed Shawn [Roman] the ball, he told me [sounds good] so I knew that we would be all right.
"Yarab, Finn and Patrick were outstanding at the plate, but our offense from top to bottom has been like that all season long.
"I really feel like we are right where we need to be as we head to regional play."
Key hits
Run-scoring singles by Ryan Satterlee and Yarab staked Ursuline to a 2-0 lead after one inning and Satterlee's double in the second scored Patrick to make it 3-0.
Blace Shutsa's sacrifice fly scored James Oldfield with SVSM's first run of the game, and Jeff Speck's double scored Nick Latchaw with the second run.
Finn's double was the highlight in the second inning, but Joe Weilbruda's two-run single four batters later gave Ursuline (22-5) a 5-2 lead after three innings.
Four singles, a hit batsman and three RBIs by Yarab in the sixth increased the Ursuline lead to 9-2.
Ursuline has won 11 straight while SVSM ended its season 9-8, losing 12 games this spring to the weather.
This is Durkin's ninth year as Ursuline's coach and with a state title (2000), runner-up finish (2002) and semifinal (2003) appearance already to his credit, his fourth trip to the regional and first since 2003 is a trip he wants his team to remember.