St. John's, Bowling Green set for Division I baseball regional showdown

Jun. 3—When St. John's Jesuit and Bowling Green square off in Thursday's 5 p.m. Division I baseball regional semifinal at Bowling Green State University's Warren Steller Field, it will be a reunion of sorts for the respective first-year head coaches.

Titans coach Sam Fischer and BG's Fred Riggs were each assistants on the Bobcats' staff in 2018 under then first-year head coach Jim Beaverson.

They share a mutual respect and remain good friends, but at BGSU on Thursday that old camaraderie will be placed on hold for a couple hours.

The two teams met during the regular season on May 17, when Bowling Green took a 9-1 home win over the Titans.

"It's just the kids believing in themselves that they can compete with anybody," Riggs said of the BG tournament formula so far. "On Thursday, we're probably going to have our toughest opponent yet. It doesn't get any easier. St. John's is an excellent team.

"We faced them earlier in the year. It was the same kids, but it's a different time and there are different things on the line."

The St. John's-BG winner is scheduled to play in the D-I regional final at Steller Field at 5 p.m. Friday against the winner of a regional semifinal between Brunswick and Berea-Midpark.

For St. John's (22-6), co-champion of the Three Rivers Athletic Conference at 12-2, that loss seemed to spark an offensive tear for the Titans, who have also had solid pitching in that span.

St. John's is 6-1 and has outscored its seven foes 72-11 since falling to BG, and most of those runs allowed came in a 9-7 loss at Ottawa Hills on May 25.

In the six wins, the Titans topped Northview, 3-0, in a nonleague game, beat Whitmer, 19-0, and St. Francis de Sales, 12-1, to close TRAC play, and then took tournament wins over Waite, 11-1, Northview, 10-0, and fifth-ranked Perrysburg, 10-1.

Leading the Titans offensively have been leadoff hitter and left fielder Carson Toth (.440 average, 40 runs, 20 runs batted in, 31 stolen bases), No. 5 hitter and DH Andrew Pelok (.383, 2 home runs, 15 RBIs), No. 2 hitter and second baseman J.P. Wagner (.377, 25 runs, 24 RBIs), and the No. 3 hitter, pitcher-outfielder Reece Magers (.357, 25 runs, 19 RBIs).

Also above .300 are center fielder Ryan Snyder (.347, 1 HR, 30 RBIs, 18 runs), catcher Reece DiSalle (.333, 18 runs), and shortstop Nick Pett (.315, 1 HR, 18 runs).

"We are playing very well together as a team," Fischer said of his Titans heading into the BG rematch. "We're gonna have to come out with energy and score runs."

Following Saturday's district-final victory, Fischer explained his team's recent hot streak.

"It's the connection they have and the faith and belief they have behind each other," he said. "They feed off of each other, one after another. If one has confidence, more are going to have confidence behind them. They're doing a great job."

St. John's pitching ace has been senior right-hander Jacob Davis, who is 9-0 with a 1.10 earned run average and 63 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched on the season. Magers, a lefty, is the Titans' No. 2 pitcher, and pitched a complete-game five-hitter in the district final win over top-seeded Perrysburg at Defiance.

"I expect them to bunt on us and to play good defense," Riggs said of St. John's. "Our offense is going to have to stay hot as it has been. I think our sophomore pitcher Nate Kress is going to do a good job, and we'll compete."

"Our pitchers have to throw first-pitch strikes and stay in control of the at bat, and keep them off-balance. They're swinging it really well. When they played Perrysburg, everything that was thrown they were hitting it. We'll have to work to hit our spots, and we have to play good defense. We can't give them any freebies."

Bowling Green (18-11), which went 9-5 in Northern Lakes League play, has also been red-hot, with the turning point for the Bobcats coming on April 12 when they upset NLL champion Anthony Wayne, 1-0 in 10 innings.

In that game, Kress, BG's sophomore right-hander, pitched all 10 innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 12. In last Thursday's district semifinals, BG and Kress did it again, this time topping AW 3-0 on a two-hit shutout by their sophomore ace.

Leading the Bobcats' offense has been senior three-sport star Eli Brown, a shortstop who was the NLL co-player of the year as a football quarterback and was a key member of the Bobcats' basketball team.

Brown, whose older triplet brothers (Alec, Blaine, and Clayton) were key members of the 2017 BG baseball team, is hitting .490 (48-for-98) with two homers, 31 RBI, 40 runs scored, and 21 stolen bases.

Complementing Brown have been Kress (first base-pitcher,.424, 1 HR, 31 runs, 25 RBIs), right fielder Braydon Clauson (.375), center fielder Cody Thompson (.354, 24 runs, 19 RBIs), leadoff hitter and third baseman Brandon Tucker (.343, 27 runs, 21 RBIs), and second baseman Kolin Atwood (.309, 1 HR, 28 RBIs, 17 runs).

Kress is 4.2 on the mound with a 2.19 ERA, and 57 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings, and No. 2 pitcher Mason West in 4-1 with a 3.55 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.

In their three tournament wins, the Bobcats beat Southview, 10-0, AW, 3-0, and last Sunday edged Findlay, 3-2 in eight innings, in the district final at BG's Carter Park.

First Published June 2, 2021, 4:27pm