It took a while, but when the Conneaut Spartans and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions finally got to play their Northeast 1 Division I baseball game on May 24 it went about as could be expected, despite delays from soggy weather coming through.
It took a while, but when the Conneaut Spartans and Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin Lions finally got to play their Northeast 1 Division I baseball game on May 24 it went about as could be expected, despite delays from soggy weather coming through.
Wednesday’s game at NDCL was washed out, and it couldn’t be played Friday either, but by Saturday, the artificial turf, partly cloudy with no-rain skies, and general huge advantage for the Lions in experience and skillsets finally came together as NDCL jumped hard in the bottom of the first inning en route to a total demolition of Conneaut by a score of 22-2.
The Spartans have lost every time they’ve taken the field this season, and fell to 0-21. The biggest part reason: 13 freshmen on the varsity roster.
Conneaut Coach Bill Lipps knows what his team faces day in and day out, but games need to be played between the lines every day. NDCL Coach Marc Thibeault knew what his team faced, and they got together to address it before the game. Then they went out and, for the most part, executed well.
After Conneaut’s top player, Thad Huya, whacked the first pitch of the game from Lion Aiden McCord — solidly but right at third baseman Jason Rook, who made the play for an out — eyes could have blinked a bit. The Spartans did not blast the ball much.
McCord hurled two perfect innings for the Lions, but by that time, the issue had been decided.
Keegan Ryans led off the first for NDCL (13-5) with a sharp single to left. The ball was misplayed for the first of eight Conneaut errors in the game, Frankie Clark wasted no time bringing Ryans home, Cian O’Boyle singled, Robby Nahra took a pitch for the team to load the bases, and Charlie Stefancin ripped a sharp bouncer toward second base. It was briefly bobbled, but the fielder recovered for the out and first, and it was 2-0.
Nick Dietrich reached on an error by the shortstop, Gavin Palchick ripped a liner to left for two more runs, Rook singled for another, and the third error of the frame plated the final for a 7-0 lead.
O’Boyle and Nahra singled leading off the second, with another in a group of seven stolen bases for the Lions in the first two innings leading to Nahra bringing O’Boyle home. Another error and four straight walks followed, capped by a sacrifice fly to left by Clark, five more runs came home, and it was time to put the flowers on the Spartan grave.
With six seniors in the starting lineup for the Lions, the first two Spartans in the top of the third took called third strikes from NDCL reliever Kai Culbertson, yet another senior for Coach Thibeault. Kyler Dean took a full count to the first baserunner for Conneaut, and Thad Huya sent a no-doubt shot between first and second base for the first Spartan hit. Then Anthony Rivera delivered their first run with a liner to right center.
NDCL made it a 14-1 game in the third with two more runs, plated by three more errors, and eight runs on six hits in the fourth to finish the onslaught.
The Spartans never gave up, but they couldn’t keep up. In the top of the fourth, they scored their second run by loading the bases with nobody out. The Lions’ skills sets stopped them in their tracks as Brady Morrison sent a bouncer back to Culbertson, who fired home. Then catcher O’Boyle fired a bullet to first for a double play.
Colby Stiltner sent a single to left for a run, but that would be it for the day for Conneaut (0-21).
“We talked before the game about just not overlooking our opponent today,” Coach Thibeault said. “In the regular season, you can get away with letting down at times and coming back, but in the postseason, you let down and lose, you are done, and we approached things to not let that happen today. We need to be a team that looks at an opponent and takes advantage of each moment we can. We don’t need to be a team ripping doubles and home runs all the time, and I was very glad to see us just putting the ball into play right away in that first inning like we did. We took other things, too, like stealing the bases we could, and that double play really showed me the kids were still seeing our game plan.”
It’s not likely the Lions will face another team along the tournament trail as young and on its heels as the Spartans, so taking care of each fundamental they know well will key their postseason run.
