Strongsville High School Baseball

Welcome to the new StrongsvilleMustangs.com!

2009 Summer Camp Information: Click Here

Miracle finish advances Mustangs to regionals (Story by John Blake - Sun News)
5/29/2009 4:42:10 PM

Strongsville - Strongsville High baseball coach Josh Sorge may have summed it up the best after his team escaped with a 2-1 win over North Olmsted in the Division I district final here.

"Sometimes it's better to be luck than good," Sorge said.

Indeed. The Mustangs were trailing, 1-0, in the bottom of the seventh with two on and two out.

That's when pinch hitter Eric Bokar lifted a seemingly routine fly ball, but the Eagles' outfield couldn't get a good read. The ball dropped to the grass, scoring John Stefanik and Craig Szymczak with the decisive in a wild finish.

The Mustangs improve to 23-3 heading into today's regional semifinal against powerful St. Ignatius at Nobby's Park at Case Western Reserve University. The Wildcats have run-ruled all three tournament opponents, including a 13-0 rout of Valley Forge in the Lakewood district final.

The winner plays at 5 pm Saturday at Shelby High School against Anthony Wayne or Toledo St. Francis.

North Olmsted coach Tim Murphy could hardly grasp what had happened.

"Our kids battled all the way through this, even though nobody expected us to be there," he said. "We didn't come here just to shake hands. We came to win - and we had it."

Through the first six innings, North Olmsted had the Mustangs on the ropes, holding the lineup to just two hits, both by Szymczak.

Eagles starter Roy Kummer had Strongsville completely off-balance. Though not overpowering by any means, Kummer was effective, striking out four and seemingly cruising toward his fifth victory.

"He threw a helluva game," said Sorge. "the equalizer was his curveball. When you're throwing that first strike, it adds to his fastball.

"That was about as gutsy a performance on the mound against us as I think there's been all year."

Kummer's counterpart, right-hander Ryan Bores, was almost as dominant. the hard thrower, improving to 6-1, punched out seven and scattered five hits.

Bores displayed his guttiness in the top of the second, when the Eagles scored their only run.

After an RBI single by Jacob Schoch, and infield single by Eric Smith loaded the bases with just one out. Bores dug deep and retired the next two batters to Houdini his way out of the jam.

"He's done that all year," Sorge said. "He's the guy that we just don't seem to get a lot of runs. He was in command the whole game. He ground it out and hung in there."

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Strongsville's Cort Thomas singled into left.

A passed ball enabled pinch runner Stefanik to trot to second base with two outs. Szymczak then was intentionally walked, bringing up Bokar.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Murphy was proud of his players for their resiliency during the course of the post-season.

"I guess everybody thought we were going to come in here and get embarrassed," Murphy said. "I thought we made good defensive plays. We were a little rough in some spots, but we proved we can take a punch."

Strongsville had no trouble cruising past Elyria during its 11-3 victory in the district baseball semifinals.

The Mustangs scored all of their runs in the second through fourth innings as they pounded out 13 hits on the day. Elyria finishes the season at 13-13.

Strongsville tallied four in the bottom of the second, two in the third and five in the fourth to take a commanding lead.

The Mustangs got much of their offensive output from the bottmo of the order. Kody Krizman was three-for-four with two RBIs and Justin Jakubik finished three-for-four with two RBIs. Lead-off hitter Shawn Riley had two hits, including a two-run single for the Mustangs final two runs in the fourth.

Starter Justin Jamison scattered three hits, allowed three runs and struck out six. Others adding RBIs were Szymczak, Nate Langhals and Kellen Pagel.

------
This story was published in the Thursday, May 28, 2009 edition of the Sun Star.

	Recent News
Read	Miracle finish advances Mustangs to regionals (Story by John Blake - Sun News)
Read	Strongsville Varsity Releases 2009 Schedule
Read	Six Mustang seniors commit to DI schools
Read	Despite Lack of Urgency Mustangs Improve to 5-1 in NEO Conference
Read	Strongsville Responds after Embarrassing Loss

Sign up for email updates!
*AOL Users: Please add news@strongsvillemustangs.com to your safe list!

Sign up for email updates!