The Mentor Cardinals will take on the North Ridgeville Rangers at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Mentor 3.4, North Ridgeville 2.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.
While Mentor's win against Cleveland Heights wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Cardinals had just enough and edged out the Tigers 7-5. The victory continues a trend for the Cardinals in their matchups with the Tigers: they've now won five in a row.
Carmello Stropko
| 05/20/25 @ Cleveland Heights | 4 |
| 04/10/25 vs Padua Franciscan | 2 |
| 04/02/25 @ Euclid | 2 |
| 05/16/25 vs St. Ignatius | 1 |
| 05/12/25 @ North | 1 |
Carmello Stropko led a balanced Cardinals bullpen and pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance also gave Stropko a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
At the plate, Austin Vanhuss was excellent, going 2-for-4 with three stolen bases and one RBI. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 1 stolen bases per game. Tyson Cendrowski was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Meanwhile, North Ridgeville got themselves on the board against Elyria on Monday, but Elyria never followed suit. They blew past the Pioneers 17-0. Considering the Rangers have won 11 contests by more than five runs this season, Monday's blowout was nothing new.
Gannon Padgett and Enmanuel Ramos were major factors while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Padgett pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Ramos tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. At bat, Padgett went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles, while Ramos went 1-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Daniel Lowe, who went 3-for-5 with four RBI, two runs, and two doubles. The team also got some help courtesy of Dominic Iezzi, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
North Ridgeville always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .615. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive games.
Mentor's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-5. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for North Ridgeville, their win bumped their record up to 19-3.
Wednesday's match will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Mentor hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .326. However, it's not like North Ridgeville struggles in that department as they've averaged .325. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
