Division II district baseball: Elyria Catholic comes up big late to down Coventry, make district final

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Bruce Lisicky likes to play for the big inning. The Elyria Catholic coach just didn't like being kept on the edge of his seat until the Panthers' final at-bat Monday. "We preach for one big inning a game," Lisicky said. "Would rather have it happen in the first inning but it happened." The Panthers scored all four of their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and hung on to beat Coventry 4-1 to advance to Wednesday's Division II district championship against Bay at North Ridgeville High School at 5 p.m. Bay defeated Rocky River 3-0 in the other district semifinal. Coventry ace right-hander Brayden Clark held EC (19-5) to just three hits and survived a pair of triples in nursing an unearned run into the bottom of the sixth. He finished with four walks and nine strikeouts but it was a wild pitch and a passed ball that proved his undoing. For the Panthers, junior Kyle Fairbanks was sharp, striking out five and walking just one. He scattered five hits but it appeared Jack Holderbaum's double that drove in Clark all the way from first after he reached on an error in the top of the fourth would be the difference. "The other pitcher did great," Fairbanks said. "He was giving us a rough time at the plate but my team pulled through at the end. Got me some runs. We've been working on that all year." "Kyle kept us in the game," Lisicky said. "That's all we were asking him to do. We're a good-hitting team. It took till the third time around in the order. We caught some breaks but that's part of the game." In the sixth, Anthony Hutter — who spanked Clark's second pitch of the game to the fence in left-center for a triple but was thrown out at home on what would have been a wild pitch — singled on a 0-2 check swing. It was the start of Clark's downfall. Levi Ellis sacrificed Hutter to second and Taylor Belza walked. "Honestly, we got super frustrated," Hutter said. "I thought I was safe (in the first inning) but it didn't really matter. We fought like a team to get back into it. We all locked in. We gotta go. We want to score three of four runs in an inning and that's what we had to do." Dominic Calanni, EC's most consistent hitter all season, drove in Hutter with a single to left. Belza and Calanni advanced when Luke Futrell bobbled the ball in left field and Belza scored on a passed ball to put the Panthers in front. "We practice all season mental toughness," said Belza, who never hesitated when he saw the ball get past Coventry's catcher. "It really shows we're all pulling for each other." L.J. Hurlbut walked and Sammy Zambatoro doubled over the head of Coventry's right fielder, scoring Calanni. Hurlbut scored the final run on a wild pitch. It wasn't quite over though. The Comets (15-11) loaded the bases with two out but Ellis came in to relieve Fairbanks and, after walking the first batter he faced on four pitches, retired Clark on a popup to second to end the game. "You knew he would settle in," Lisicky said of Ellis. "He warmed up probably two innings prior. He got a little cold. I didn't want to wait until their big hitter (Clark) would be the first hitter he faced." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.