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Ursuline can’t get key hits
By Tom Williams
MASSILLON
The Ursuline High baseball team’s road to the Schroeder Field regional tournament was filled with blowout victories.
Which make Keystone pitcher Brandyn Sittinger’s performance in Friday’s Division III regional game all the more impressive as the junior tossed a five-hit shutout to end Ursuline’s season with a 5-0 loss.
“He did a great job,” Ursuline coach Sean Durkin said of Sittinger who struck out nine Irish batters. “He kept us off-balance, he a had a little bit of velocity and he got [the ball] by some of our guys.
“He deserves a ton of credit, we expected to put some runs on the board and we just couldn’t do it.”
Ursuline, which scored 32 runs in two district games earlier this week, stranded nine baserunners.
The Irish threatened in the first when Paul Kempe drew a lead-off walk and Anthony Rohan reached on an error. Harrison Finelli’s sacrifice bunt gave the Irish runners at second and third.
Sittinger escaped by striking out a pair of batters, sandwiched around another walk.
The Irish had runners at first and third with two outs in the third inning when Sittinger got out of it with another strikeout.
“Our defense helped me tremendously,” Sittinger said. “Whenever I had guys on second and third or first and third, they came up with a big play.”
Facing a potent Irish lineup, Sittinger said it took him a while to get into a groove.
“I felt good but that first inning was a little shaky,” Sittinger said. “I couldn’t really get my curveball going. Other than that, I felt pretty comfortable out there.”
Ursuline starter Sam Donko (3-4) need 30 pitches to get out of the first inning. Lenny Brodnik’s two-out single scored Sittinger and Matt Cordy for a 2-0 Keystone lead.
The Wildcats scored two more in the second inning on Caleb Schillace’s two-out double that brought in Drew Fitzgerald and Ryan Clement.
“I knew he was coming with a fastball because I jumped on his curveball and his off-speed stuff,” said Schillace of his first at-bat. “So I was just sitting on that fastball and just took it to right field.”
Durkin said Donko showed his competitive side after the long first inning.
“He threw 105 pitches so he was pretty efficient after [the first inning,]” Durkin said. “It was one of those games — each team had opportunities with two outs. They came through and we didn’t.
“It’s a funny game once you get to this level, anything can happen,” Durkin said. “The ball bounces some funny ways.”