High school baseball: (6) Cardinal vs. (4) Ursuline district semifinal preview capsule

May 22—(6) Cardinal vs. (4) Ursuline

What: Division III district semifinal

When: May 23

Where: Struthers, 16 Bob Cene Way, Struthers

Records: Cardinal 12-8, Ursuline 15-8

Cardinal's path: Def. LaBrae, 11-4

Ursuline's path: Def. Waterloo, 8-4

On deck: Winner advances to play (11) Cardinal Mooney or (7) Rootstown in a Division III district final on May 25.

For the record: After a close game through two innings with LaBrae, Cardinal put its foot on the gas in the fourth. The Huskies put up four runs and again in the sixth, where they added five more. Eight different hitters brought runs across, and Jake Bean fanned nine. ... Both Troy Domen and Bean are batting over .400, Domen with a .443 and Bean at .414. But the next highest batting average for Cardinal is Connor Callison with a .283. If the Huskies want to advance to the district final, they will need the bats outside of their top two to continue their momentum after the win over the Vikings. ... The Huskies will have Bean on the mound once again, as the Kent State commit has been strong toeing the rubber with a 1.13 ERA and only allowed nine earned runs while he's struck out 112 batters. ... Cardinal will need his arm in top form as he faces an Ursuline lineup with five batters hitting over .300, led by Luca Ricchiuti (.443) and Nick Bako (.378). Both Andrew Kirila and Tom Groner have 1.80 ERAs. If both teams are clicking early, look for this to be a battle of what team finds a way to break through.

Hercik's pick: Ursuline