Baseball: Izaiah Amarise pitches Elyria Catholic past North Ridgeville

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Elyria Catholic handled business in a 6-1 non-conference victory over North Ridgeville on Thursday afternoon. Led by Walsh University commit Izaiah Amarise, the Panthers pitching staff was sharp, allowing only one unearned run. "I was just trying to focus on throwing strikes, getting ahead and competing," Amarise said. Amarise finished his day strong, striking out the final hitter he faced. The righty allowed an unearned run in five innings with two hits and three walks. He struck out six. "He has elite stuff, and we are really going to count on him this year," Elyria Catholic coach Bruce Lisicky said. "He looked focused and if this is just the start of what he is going to look like this year, good things will happen." Elyria Catholic junior Troy Degnegaard worked around trouble in the sixth but escaped a jam in his two scoreless innings of relief. Junior James Kingery started on the hill for the Rangers. He gave up four earned runs in three-plus innings. Junior lefty Zach Poltorek relieved and finished the game. The lefty pitched well, going four innings and allowing an unearned run and a hit, striking out two. The Panthers were able to notch nine hits, as junior Noah Willett led the way with two hits and two RBIs. Amarise and Luke Doss also registered multihit games. "We always say put the ball in play and good things will happen," said Lisicky. "That came true and the kids all had good approaches today." Elyria Catholic got on the board early with a hustle RBI single by Amarise. Junior Brayden Winter extended the lead in the top of the third with an RBI double. Willett drove in two runs in the top of the fourth, extending Elyria Catholic's lead to 5-1. The lone North Ridgeville run came on a wild pitch in the third as sophomore Matthew Flesher ran home. "We got to start hitting the ball in play a little bit harder," North Ridgeville coach Matt Ponting said. "We have only had two games, and we have some new guys, but we really need to make better contact." Junior Brayden Harrison led the Rangers with two hits, as he finished 2-for-4. "You just keep practicing every day, getting your at-bats in, have a good approach," said Ponting. "You do all the things we are telling them, and they always work on. But somedays, you have a bad day, and that's baseball." The Rangers will continue non-conference play as they travel to Hoover on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers travel to Huron on Tuesday. "As the season goes on and once I get in a groove, I just want to strike everyone out," Amarise said. "Blow a fastball by them, go for the stats, but for right now I just focus on the little things and making sure everything is smooth and fluent."