Sweet 16 indeed.
In a showdown between the top two baseball teams fighting for sole possession of first place in Section 2-6A, the first of three straight games between Norwin and Canon-McMillan turned into a showcase for senior Sebastian Shulsky.
The Cincinnati commit allowed only two hits, one walk, a hit batter and struck out 16 as the Big Macs took Game 1 at home 8-0.
“We’re very proud of Seb. He pitched wonderfully,” Canon-McMillan coach Brenden Steele said. “The focus was not getting behind batters. He commanded well all day.”
He also dominated all day.
Shulsky struck out the sides three times, he fanned eight Knights in a row between the first and third innings and then struck out six straight batters between the fourth and sixth innings.
Hitters No. 5 through 9 in the Norwin batting order did not put a ball in play, going a combined 0 for 12 with 12 strikeouts.
“I had trouble my last three starts getting ahead in counts, so the main thing I wanted to focus on was throwing strikes,” Shulsky said. “I had my curveball and my slider working, and my two-seamer was working. The slider would come at them and then go straight across like a cutter, then my curveball would start high and would freeze them more.”
The only threat by the Knights came in the fourth inning when, with one out, Tristyn Tavares singled for the first hit off Shulsky and went to second on a walk by Caden Sivrich.
With Derek Berger at the plate, Big Macs shortstop Noah Westfall sneaked in to the second base bag and Tavares was picked off by Shulsky.
“The main focus in practice was pickoffs and rundowns,” Shulsky said of the big play. “My coach and I have been working on pickoffs. We did it at the right time because nobody knew it was coming. Us executing that in practice helped us execute it in a game.”
Berger then had the Knights’ final hit before a strikeout ended the threat.
“It’s something we’ve been working on to avoid runners getting too comfortable on the bases,” Steele said. “We spent a lot of practice time the past couple of weeks working on those things. We saw that as an opportune time, and they executed it very well. We can call it, but it’s what they do that makes it work.”
Though Shulsky was fantastic, Norwin starting pitcher Matt O’Neil was very good.
Canon-McMillan came into the game averaging 10 runs, but O’Neil limited them to one unearned run through four innings.
In the fifth inning, Noah Westfall and M.J. Maruschak had infield singles and with two outs, Nico Patragas doubled off the top of the fence in left-center field to make it 3-0.
“All props to Matt O’Neil,” Shulsky said. “He’s a great guy and a great pitcher. He got me twice (on strikeouts), and his slider was working for him and his fastball was working.”
The roof caved in on Norwin in the bottom of the sixth inning when Canon-McMillan scored five runs, only two of which were earned.
Westfall and Massimo Falconi delivered run-producing singles, and Maruschak and Troy Stimpson added sacrifice flies to blow the game open.
“Matt pitched very well,” Norwin coach Craig Spisak said.
“Canon-Mac did a great job working counts and battling him. Matt had some tough plays behind him. Canon-Mac made us pay for some extra outs.”
Norwin fell to 3-1 in Section 2-6A. Its three-game win streak was snapped and it dropped to 5-2 overall.
Canon-McMillan stayed undefeated in section play at 4-0 and overall at 9-0.
The Knights will try to bounce back as they host the Big Macs on Thursday and Friday to conclude the three-game series.