Division I Team Of The Week: Week 7 - Saint Ignatius

May 16, 2023
Bruce Hefflinger
PBR Ohio Senior Writer

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Division I Team Of The Week: Week 7 - Saint Ignatius

CLEVELAND - Saint Ignatius nearly completed a four-game run-rule sweep, in the process earning recognition as the Prep Baseball Report Division I Team of the Week.

“We’ve been playing a lot of close games this season, it seems like a lot of one-run and two-run games,” explained head coach Brad Ganor. “It was nice to have some breathing room the last four.”

A week that started out in abysmal fashion, a 9-2 loss to Padua, was far from dreadful in a four-day stretch starting on Wednesday with a 13-1 five-inning win over Mentor. Two days later the Wildcats beat Avon Lake 11-1 in six innings before an impressive showing on Saturday. First was a five-inning 14-2 dismantling of 25th-ranked Grove City before an 11-5 victory over Olentangy Orange, a game that Ignatius led 11-1 in the fifth before the state's 26th-rated Division I team extended the contest to seven innings.

“The Padua game was, hopefully, an anomaly, coming after our prom,” related Ganor. “I think we really responded. Going to Columbus I think we were geared up. We’d been getting very good pitching, but our hitting had gone in waves. Last week we warmed up with the weather.”

The one-two punch of Max Palinski and Sawyer Solitaria came up big on Saturday to close out the week. Palinski, an Ohio State signee ranked sixth in Ohio among senior outfielders, went 6-7 with two home runs, six RBIs and five runs scored against Grove City and Orange. Solitaria, the second-rated 2024 in the state and a Kent State commit, not only picked up the win on the mound against Orange, but was 6-9 at the plate on the day driving in five runs.

It capped off a big week for the 30th-rated junior third baseman in the nation, who was 1-3 versus Padua, 2-3 against Mentor and 2-4 in the Avon Lake game.

Sam Meyer, a senior headed to St. Joseph, Pa., was also 6-8 on Saturday with one home run for the Wildcats, which pounded out 19 hits in the Grove City contest and 16 against Orange.

“What we did Saturday is what we’re capable of doing,” pointed out Ganor. “The whole year we’ve lacked one of those elements but on Saturday we played good defense, swung the bats well and pitched it pretty well.”

Liam Baker, a John Carroll commit, is 3-0 with a save and a 0.70 ERA, throwing a team-high 30 innings with 44 strikeouts. Solitaria is 4-1 with a 0.97 ERA, sending down 38 on strikes in 28.2 frames. Pauly Mancino is 3-0 on the mound while senior Mason Brunecz provides valuable depth with 17 innings of work to date.

Palinski, the left fielder, leads the way at the plate with a .486 average, scoring 32 runs and driving home 21 with 13 stolen bases. Mancino, a center fielder signed with Ohio University, is batting .389 with 25 runs and 19 steals with Meyer, the right fielder, hitting .379.

Jake Pfaff, the second-ranked junior second baseman in the state, carries a .375 average with only four Ks in 79 at-bats this season. Nick Frontino, the third-rated sophomore shortstop in Ohio, has three home runs and 22 RBIs with a .355 average.

Ganor believes camaraderie of the Wildcats could go a long way in helping his squad, which is rated fourth in Division I and fifth in the PBR Power 25, down the stretch and in the tournament which begins on Thursday.

“We’re senior-heavy with 13 on the team,” noted Ganor, whose Wildcats are 20-5 on the year with regular-season games remaining against Canton Central Catholic on Friday and Berea-Midpark on Saturday. “They’re tight-knit with a lot of factors playing into it. A lot of them came into it together over here and they went through Covid together.”