SHELBY — Logan Bruce lived on the razor’s edge for three innings.
Bruce, Amherst’s starting pitcher, worked out of some precarious situations during Thursday’s Division I regional semifinal at W.W. Skiles Field.
He escaped first and second with no outs in the first inning. He worked out of a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the second. He even left a runner stranded on second base in the third.
Bruce fell off the precipice in the fourth inning. The senior right-hander surrendered four runs on five hits in what eventually became an 11-1 victory for
St. Ignatius in a game stopped in the last of the sixth.
Bruce left the game after the fourth. Amherst’s fielding prowess left as well as St. Ignatius (26-5) added five unearned runs in the fifth and a pair of freebies with none out in the sixth to send everyone home.
“We knew he was a battler,” Amherst coach Al McConihe said of his No. 1 pitcher. “Without any doubt, he would be the guy to get the ball. Logan battled and did a good job of minimizing damage.”
But minimizing damage could only go so far against Ohio’s second-ranked Division I team. The Wildcats banged out 14 hits, including four doubles. Jesse Franklin and Kirby Becker had three hits apiece. Becker’s single with no one out in the sixth scored Franklin with the game-ending run.
Meanwhile, Matt Rosinski was busy stifling the Comets’ bats. Rosinski held Amherst (20-9) to four hits and retired nine in a row at one point. He faced the minimum number of hitters in four innings, thanks to being bailed out by a pair of double plays.
Amherst reached Rosinski for its only run in the first inning. The Miami University recruit allowed only three Comets hitters to put the ball out of the infield after the first.
“We were feeling confident as far as scoring more runs,” McConihe said. “We could have put a little more pressure on their defense, but that pitcher kept us at bay all day.”
Ryan Rua walked with one away and stole second before Ryan Bartizal belted a double to deep left field to give the Comets a 1-0 lead.
Nick DeSico led off the Wildcats’ first with a double and Brad Clement walked. Bruce struck out Justin Mackert and Clement was picked off first before Bryan Conway grounded out to shortstop.
Joe Dorocak walked, Franklin singled and Becker laid down a bunt single to fill the bases with none away in the second. Bruce fanned Aaron Klinec, got Alex Johnson to pop out to second base and struck out DeSico to wiggle out of trouble.
It all came crashing down in the fourth. Franklin and Becker led off with back-to-back doubles. Klinec put down a bunt single before Johnson grounded to shortstop. Rua threw home and Becker was hung up between third base and the plate before being tagged out by catcher Mike Fabri.
DeSico struck out, but Clement ended Bruce’s lucky streak with a two-run double to make it a 3-1 St. Ignatius lead. Mackert singled in Clement to give the Wildcats a 4-1 advantage.
Two errors on potential double-play grounders allowed St. Ignatius to score five unearned runs off Jake Kolcun. Klinec and Johnson had run-scoring singles and Mackert had a two-run hit.
Errors also played a role in getting the two runs home for the Wildcats in the sixth against Jon Block.
“We were playing clean baseball through this championship run (Southwestern Conference, sectional and district),” McConihe said. “This is now part of our experience. We got to Shelby and we hope coming here can be something to build on. We want to be back next year.”
The game was the first regional tournament appearance for the Comets since 1993. Ignatius will defend its Shelby regional championship today at 2 p.m. against Toledo Start, a 4-3 winner against Perrysburg in Thursday’s other semifinal.

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