Cornerstone flipped the switch on Lourdes Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field, sweeping a doubleheader from the Gray Wolves 8-0 and 9-7 one day after Lourdes swept a twinbill from the Golden Eagles.
In the opener,
Brendan Holland (Riga, Mich./Blissfield H.S.) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the two teams traded zeros for the first six frames. The no-hitter was broken up with a lead-off double in the seventh, starting an eight-run uprising by the Golden Eagles. Cornerstone sent 12 batters to the plate and used just four timely hits along with three walks and two hit batters to score all of the runs.
Holland took the tough loss, allowing just the one run and one hit in his six-plus innings of work, striking out eight while walking six. Lucas Vega scattered just five hits in the complete game win for Cornerstone, fanning 10 and walking just one.
A.J. Brinson (Bloomington, Ind./South H.S.) had the only multi-hit game in the opener for Lourdes.
Cornerstone (7-18, 2-6 WHAC) scored single runs in the second and third innings of game two before plating four more in the fourth. After a two-run top of the seventh made it 8-0 Golden Eagles, Lourdes finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame as Brinson scored on a wild pitch.
The Gray Wolves would bat around in the eighth, sending 11 hitters to the plate while scoring six times to pull within one.
Ted Akas (Powell, Ohio/Buckeye Valley H.S.) had a pinch-hit RBI single and
Joel Suraganan (Pickerington, Ohio/Dunbarton H.S.) plated two more with a single.
Caelan Cunningham (Port Dover, Ont./Holy Trinity Catholic H.S.) also had a run-scoring hit to make it an 8-7 game.
The Golden Eagles would add an insurance run in the ninth and the Gray Wolves were unable to knot up the game. Lourdes had its chances though, leaving 15 on base in the game, including 13 in scoring position.
Alex Dupree (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview H.S.) had three hits while Brinson and
Nick Zito (Saint Petersburg, Fla./Sports Leadership and Management Academy) had two hits each.
Lourdes (6-12, 5-3) will continue its 10-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon as the Gray Wolves host Point Park in a make-up doubleheader. The first pitch in game one is set for noon.