By Chris Check
Regional Scout

HUDSON, OH – No. 22 Cardinal Mooney used a huge fifth inning rally to score seven runs in the process of upsetting No. 12 Canton South 8-4. 

South held a slim 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning before the Mooney fireworks turned a deficit into an 8-2 lead.

South jumped ahead 1-0, in the top of the first when senior centerfielder Noah Mallen and sophomore first-baseman D.J. Wilson hit consecutive one out singles followed by a big two out RBI single by sophomore starting pitcher Cody Stickel.  

Mooney then tied it back up in the bottom of the second inning on a line drive home run to left field by junior right fielder Denver Martin. 

Canton South scored another single run in the fourth when sophomore left fielder Garrett Crum tripled to the left center gap and scored two batters later on junior left fielder Preston May’s ground ball fielder’s choice to second base. 

The stage was set for the big seven run fifth by Mooney, which for all intents and purposes, decided the game.

Junior Harrison Wagner started the inning with single to right then got to second on a passed ball.  Wagner then scored on an infield field error on a ball hit by sophomore Christian Lowery to tie the game.  Lowery advance to second on the error and then was sacrificed to third by junior Ryan Megyesi.  Sophomore second baseman Gino DiVincenzo then drove home with a sacrifice fly to center field. 

Canton South looked to get out of the inning down by just one run, but Mooney erupted for six consecutive two out hits to push five more runs across the plate. 

Sophomore shortstop Jon Saadey singled to center, senior catcher Drew Delsignore hit an RBI double to the gap in left center and scored on an RBI single to right.  Sophomore Trent Humphreys beat out an infield squibber and promptly stole second base.  Martin then got an RBI single after a pitching change.  Wagner’s second hit of the inning an RBI single to right which finished the scoring in the big inning.

Canton South looked to have a big inning of their own in the top of the sixth when they started with three consecutive walks.  Sophomore catcher Conner Thomson got an RBI with a hard hit fielder’s choice to the shortstop, which was followed by an RBI sacrifice fly to right by Mallen. 

Reliever junior Joe Cunningham got a big called third strike on South’s clean-up hitter Damon Wade to end the inning and the scoring for the day.

Senior right hander Kane Durkin battled five hard innings to get the big win for Mooney, who play Akron Hoban on Friday night for a chance to play in the state final four.

To view scouting notes from games across Ohio, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week. To view scouting notes from games across Ohio, please visit the Ohio High School Scouting Blog. The blog gets updated throughout the week. 

To discuss this game, please visit our partner JJHuddle.