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Mathews’ run ends in regional semifinal

By Brian Yauger 4 min read

STRONGSVILLE -- After returning zero starters from its 2019 incarnation, Mathews baseball found itself right back where it was two years ago -- in the regional semifinals.

The thrilling season for the Mustangs concluded once again in Strongsville, as Mathews lost to the heavy Tiffin Calvert bats, 12-2.

"Sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't," Mustangs coach Jared Terlecky said. "… Today wasn't our day. When we hit the ball hard it went to somebody. We had a couple chances to make plays and we didn't. We talked before about championship plays. When you get into a game like this, you've got to make those championship plays when you get a chance to make them. We had a couple chances to maybe minimize damage, but we didn't make it at that point.

"That's the game. Sometimes you love it, sometimes you hate it. Today's one of those days where you hate it a little bit, and you come back from it. That's baseball. That's why it's the greatest sport in the world."

Calvert took over the game from the very start, jumping on the board in the bottom of the first with three runs, one of which came on an error. The trend continued in the second and third innings as they tacked on one in the second and three more in the third.

Mathews didn't just lay down, however.

Sophomore Ethan Petak was crucial for the Mustangs Friday. Petak went 3-for-3 from the plate, including a double that scored the team's only two runs of the afternoon, knocking in fellow sophomores Christian Mudrey and Alex Nicholson.

"Ethan was huge for us today," Terlecky said. "He hit the ball hard all three times and got the two RBI as we needed them. He's been like that all year, he's a fantastic player."

Petak's double in the top of the fifth closed the gap to 7-2, but Calvert put up four runs in its next at-bat to put the team within a run of ending the game via run rule, which came in the following inning.

The sophomore-laden Mustangs picked up valuable experience reaching this stage of the tournament, but Calvert was just too much.

"They're a fantastic team," Terlecky said. "They've got hitters up and down the lineup. They play fantastic defense, pitchers making plays when they needed to. I think they have all the tools to make a run deep in the tournament, possibly the whole way, so I tip my hat to them. They're well-coached and full of talent."

Mathews ends its season at 19-7 and graduates five seniors.

Those five players, Woodrow Lehman, Declan Stitt, Sam Rath, Ray Snyder and Nathanael Weisbarth, played crucial roles in the team's success this season.

"I was telling the seniors that I was really proud of the ride that they gave us this year and the leadership that they showed the entire year," Terlecky said. "Those guys, even though they were seniors, didn't have much varsity experience, so for them to step in and perform at an admirable level like that, I'm just so proud of them.

Between the completely fresh lineup and the looming thoughts of another canceled season early on, the Mustangs overcame a ton of question marks to reach this point.

"There were times, like at the start of the tournament week where we got beat by Warren Harding in a pretty convincing fashion. They're an excellent team, obviously, which made me wonder how long we would last in the tournament, but the guys rebounded. They just showed up.

"They played three great ballgames in a row. We just couldn't quite get the fourth one in a row. We weren't sharp enough to beat a team like Calvert today."

Calvert advances to take on Kennedy in the regional final at Strongsville High School today. First pitch is set for noon.

Starting at /week.