Irish gain state again, 7-2

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

MASSILLON — Following a 30-minute weather delay, things were getting intense for the Ursuline High baseball team in their pursuit of a second straight state appearance.

The Irish, who were state runners-up in 2006, were nursing a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning of Friday’s Division III regional final when umpires saw lightning and heard distant thunder.

After the break, the sun returned and LaGrange Keystone scored its second run after a successful head-first slide into first base and a two-base error.

But in the seventh inning, Irish junior third baseman Ross Revella stopped the nail-biting along the Ursuline sidelines when he creamed the first pitch from Wildcats ace Steve Wirth over right fielder Kyle Minnich for a bases-loaded triple.

Revella scored Ursuline’s seventh run on Matt Yarab’s sacrifice fly as the Irish defeated the Wildcats 7-2 for the regional tournament crown and another trip to Columbus.

“This means a lot now, but next week’s the real deal,” said Revella, who said a third look at Wirth provided solid information.

“Eddie got a clutch hit as well,” Revella said. “We just timed in on him.”

Irish vs. Bloomdale Elmwood

Friday at 7 p.m., Ursuline (23-5) will play Bloomdale Elmwood in the state semifinals at Cooper Stadium in Columbus. The state title game will be played there next Saturday at 7 p.m.

“It was a very tight ball game,” said Ursuline coach Sean Durkin who has five state appearances in his 10 seasons with the Irish. “Usually in the tournament, in order to advance you sometimes have to win a game where you didn’t necessarily play very well.

“I think today was certainly that day,” Durkin said. “Revella’s big swing in the seventh was huge.”

Early on, a big hit late appeared to be unnecessary as the Irish jumped on Wirth (8-1) for three runs in the top of the first inning.

Revella opened the game with a single and took second on a balk by the lefthander. After senior outfielder Matt Yarab reached base on a fielder’s choice⁄error, senior catcher Ed Rohan doubled to score Revella.

After Tod Finn walked to load the bases, Yarab scored when Mark Lapikas hit into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Shawn Roman singled to score Rohan.

Rohan said the early 3-0 lead “allowed us to relax a little bit ... but we relaxed a little bit too much today.”

Wirth checks runners

Wirth picked off two base runners at first to keep the game tight.

“He did a great job,” Durkin said. “Obviously, he kept our runners close to first. He had a very nice curveball and he moved the ball around the zone.”

On the mound for the Irish was Roman who was sharp at first, allowing just one base runner in the first three innings.

But in the fourth, the Wildcats (24-7) scored when Nick Kennedy doubled home Kyle Shaw.

Then came the delay.

Durkin said his staff wasn’t sure how his sophomore pitcher would be affected.

“He’s a kid we trust, he’s a very intelligent kid and we let him do what he thought he needed to do,” Durkin said. “It probably affected him a little bit but he bounced back.”

Roman fans the side

Roman, who started last year’s state title game, struck out three Wildcats in the sixth inning.

Roman said last year’s regional triumph added pressure.

“It’s big because we were expected to do it again,” said Roman (7-1). “They kept it close — [Wirth] was keeping us off balance.

“I had a couple of location problems with my curveball, but my fastball was on target most of the time,” Roman said.

Roman, who was on third base when Revella tripled, said he went back to the mound oozing confidence for the final three outs.

“With that comfortable lead, I felt I could shut them down,” Roman said. “All I had to do was throw strikes.”

williams@vindy.com