Key ‘K’ leads to ‘W’: Ursuline rolls, 10-4

Pitcher Robert Switka rallied from early struggles to lead the Irish.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

MASSILLON — The most important play in the Ursuline High baseball team’s 10-4 victory over Woodridge wasn’t Matt Yarab’s first-inning single that helped the Irish slice a 4-0 deficit in half.

It wasn’t Yarab’s second-inning double that scored Joe Wielbruda and Ross Revella to tie the game.

And it wasn’t Todd Finn’s single in that frame that brought home Yarab in a four-run rally that put the Irish ahead for keeps in Thursday’s Division III regional semifinal.

No, the play that saved the Irish season came in the top of the second inning when junior pitcher Robert Switka faced Bulldogs cleanup hitter Mike DeBord with the bases loaded and two outs.

In his first plate appearance, DeBord, who averages about one hit in every two at-bats, hit a three-run homer to put the Bulldogs (27-3) ahead, 3-0.

In his second at-bat, DeBord worked a full count. On the seventh pitch he faced, he swung and missed, keeping the Ursuline deficit at 4-2.

“That was a huge pitch,” Ursuline coach Sean Durkin said. “Bob had a tough first inning and he struggled a little bit in the second.

“I think that pitch kind of gave him a little bit more confidence in himself,” Durkin said. “He found his location and once he found his groove, he slammed the door. And that’s what we expect out of him.”

Today at 2 p.m. at Schroeder Field, Ursuline (22-5) will face Keystone LaGrange (24-6) for the regional title.

Settling down

Switka retired the next 12 batters he faced while the Irish scored eight unanswered runs.

“I was missing spots and struggling on the mound,” Switka said, calling DeBord’s strikeout “big. They are such a good-hitting team. It made me feel more confident.

“I was doing really well mixing pitches and locations,” Switka said. That was probably my best stretch of the year.”

Irish catcher Ed Rohan, who had three of Ursuline’s 15 hits and scored three times, said Switka “sort of settled himself down. I just told him to calm down and we’ll handle it at the plate.”

Rohan said the early deficit opened some eyes “but we weren’t rattled — we swing the bat pretty well, too. We knew we were going to put some runs on the board for ‘Swit.’ ”

Yarab, a senior outfielder, agreed.

“Our attitude was that we’ve got a lot of game left and we just wanted to chip away and play solid defense,” said Yarab, who added that Switka’s reaction to pressure was key.

“It was definitely all positive seeing him react the way he did, settling down and taking control of the game,” Yarab said. “It was wonderful to see that.”

Ross Revella’s two hits included a triple. Tod Finn and Mark Lapikas each had two hits and two RBIs.

As for a return to Columbus, Rohan said, “This is good but we’ve got to take care of business for one more game.”

williams@vindy.com