Walsh Jesuit baseball a win away from OHSAA state tournament with victory over Wadsworth
OBERLIN — Senior Ryan Piech pitched a four-hit shutout Thursday to lead Walsh Jesuit to a 1-0 win over Wadsworth in a Division I baseball regional semifinal at Oberlin College’s Dill Field.
Piech struck out seven and walked two in seven innings as Walsh (25-3) advanced to meet University School (24-7) in a regional final at 5 p.m. Friday back at Oberlin. The Preppers eliminated Archbishop Hoban 5-1 in Thursday's second semifinal.
“I have been throwing a lot of fastballs, sliders and curves, and mixing in the changeup a little bit,” Piech said. “The fastball and slider have been working really well for me. The curveball is there when I need it.”
Junior Finn Schmitt was nearly as impressive for Wadsworth (21-6), limiting Walsh to one run and two hits in six innings. Schmitt struck out three and hit one batter.
Walsh scored the lone run of the game in the bottom of the third inning.
Senior Justin Bremner led off with a single to left field, senior Raul Gamez was hit by a pitch and senior Topher Salek bunted for a single to load the bases. Senior Alejandro Covas then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Bremner.
"I was able to get a fastball that I liked and shoot it for a single and then they did the rest of the work," Bremner said. "... [Schmitt] is a really good pitcher. He really threw his slider well and kept us off our feet. He pitched very well."
Added Covas: [Schmitt] is a great pitcher. He was working in his slider very well and his fastball was pretty hard. Anything we could get was huge. Justin, Raul and Topher were able to get on base and I happened to be up and hit it to deep right. It was awesome."
Walsh is attempting to get back to the Division I state tournament for the second time in three seasons.
"I am confident as heck in our guys," Piech said.
Schmitt only allowed Bremner, Gamez and Salek to reach base in the third as Walsh went three up and three down in its other five innings at bat.
“That kid is very good,” Piech said of Schmitt. “That kid has a bright future ahead of him for sure.”
Walsh coach Joe Bowers was happy with how his team "battled" and said "the moment is not too big" for his players.
"Ryan is very good," Bowers said. "I trust him on the mound like with my life. ... That kid [Schmitt] is a dog out there. He wasn't phased by anything."
Wadsworth baseball team set to return several starters in 2024
Wadsworth junior Eric Decker went 3-for-3 Thursday with three singles up the middle.
"I thought Finn went pitch for pitch with him [Piech]," Wadsworth coach Greg Pickard said. "Their two hits they had in my opinion were not really hard hit balls. I felt like we hit some hard balls right at people, and then had some opportunities and we just didn't take advantage of them. Obviously, he [Piech] is a very good pitcher, giving up one earned run all year. I liked our approach at the plate. I thought we got in there and battled and had some good at bats."
Wadsworth made its first regional semifinal appearance since 2001. The 2023 Grizzlies won the Suburban League National Conference with a 12-0 record and topped Firestone, North Royalton and Strongsville to win a district title.
"We played complimentary baseball," Pickard said. "Our defense was really solid, pretty much all year. We were fielding about .960 or .970, which is really, really good in high school. Our pitching was very consistent. Finn was outstanding all year. Fig [junior Kyle Figuray] really came on the second half of the year. [Junior] Jon [Byers] just throws strikes and gives us opportunities. Our hitting numbers were absolutely outstanding this year. One through nine in the lineup could hurt you."
Pickard will bid farewell to senior starters Aaron Keating, Daniel Hall, Ben Leopold and Austin Miller and senior reserves Ben Weber, Logan Skidmore and Alex Neville.
Byers, Figuray and Keating completed their third season as starters, helping Wadsworth win three SLNC titles in a row. Wadsworth has won a league title in seven out of the past nine seasons under Pickard.
"The good news is we have a lot of core guys coming back," Pickard said. "We do lose seven seniors, but we have a real good core of juniors coming back and a couple of nice sophomores behind them."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Walsh Jesuit High School wins OHSAA baseball regional semifinal
