Walsh Jesuit denies Boardman in district final

Spartans fall short

in bid for first district

title since 2002

By Dan hiner

sports@vindy.com

Struthers

After three innings the Boardman baseball team thought it had a shot at capturing its first district title since 2002.

Spartans starting pitcher Nick Augustine had pitched three perfect innings and the Boardman’s hitters were getting quality at-bats.

But Walsh Jesuit eventually pulled away with a 6-1 win in the Division I district final.

Augustine didn’t allow a hit until the top of the fourth, but that’s when things started to fall apart for Boardman.

Warriors shortstop Brendan Regan singled up the middle to start the fourth. Walsh Jesuit used a sacrifice bunt to move Regan to second and he scored on a single from designated hitter Jace Burke.

But Augustine retired the next two batters to keep the deficit at 1-0.

Walsh Jesuit scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning to put the game out of reach. The Warriors combined for four hits and two walks in the inning. Boardman recorded the first two outs of the fifth on sacrifice bunts.

“They put together a good fourth or fifth inning there,” Boardman head coach Joe Gabriel said. “We didn’t cash in early when we had a couple chances. As the game’s going, you gotta cash in early in these types of games. They did a good job late and in the middle of the game there to cash in there to put the pressure back on us.”

Augustine was pulled after pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing four runs on five hits and no walks.

“Honestly, I was pitching the best game I’ve ever had. I give credit to them. They’re a good team, they hit the ball,” Augustine said. “For the most part, I was hitting my spots. They just beat us today.”

The Spartans scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth after designated hitter Bobby Mackovick scored on a two-out RBI single from right fielder Dom Stilliana.

Mackovick went 1 for 3 with a run scored and Stilliana finished 1 for 3 with an RBI.

Walsh Jesuit pitcher Yassir Kahook threw six innings and allowed one run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out five Spartans.

Augustine said “whoever struck first” was going to win the game based on the performance between the two starting pitchers. He said the Warriors got their bats going in the middle innings and Boardman didn’t.

Augustine said there really wasn’t anything the Spartans could do other than hit better. Boardman left six runners on base, three in scoring position.

Gabriel gave credit to the seven seniors on the roster for their performance in the game and throughout the season. He said the team started to move in the right direction during the last 10 games of the season.

“These guys did a good job staying together. The seniors held this thing together,” Gabriel said. “They just did a good job of coming together towards the end. They made a nice little run at the end; we just kinda fell short here in the district final.”

In the end, the 2017 season still marked the first time the Spartans have played in the district finals since 2006. Gabriel said he has a young team and hopes to build on their success next year.

“We played a lot of young guys,” Gabriel said. “A couple of the young guys that were playing early were hurt. We look forward to the next couple years here and we’ll keep building on it.”