Tyler Skulina doesn't feel he is all the way back, but he sure looked like it Thursday. Ryan Berry returned as well, but it's not as if he was gone that long.
Lake Catholic's Zach Cvelbar signals he still has the ball after tagging Walsh Jesuit's Forrest Perron after Perron tried to stretch a single to a double on Thursday.
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(Thomas Ondrey / PD)
Tyler Skulina doesn't feel he is all the way back, but he sure looked like it Thursday.
Ryan Berry returned as well, but it's not as if he was gone that long.
Either way, both players helped lead Walsh Jesuit to a 4-1 victory over Lake Catholic in a Division II regional semifinal game at the Ballpark at Hudson.
After being sidelined for nearly three weeks earlier this month with a muscle injury in his back, Skulina came up with his second solid performance of the postseason in helping the Warriors (28-1) reach today's title game against Marlington (21-8) at 5 p.m.
Skulina, a Virginia recruit, had his pitches hovering around the 90 mph mark the entire game -- reaching 92 mph with two throws -- in pitching a three-hitter and raising his record to 6-0. The 6-6, 235-pound right-hander struck out seven and walked one. That came on the heels of a one-hit, six-strikeout performance against Archbishop Hoban in the district finals.
"I really don't think I'm all the way back," he said. "My velocity is still a little down, but 90-91 is OK. My fastball was tailing today and my slider was working, but I couldn't get a real feel for my curve."
Skulina, now 26-0 for his high school career, threw 95 pitches, 65 of which were strikes. Coach Chris Kaczmar said senior Greg Greve (7-0, 2.35 ERA) will pitch today against Marlington, which run-ruled Beloit West Branch in Thursday's other semifinal, 10-0, in six innings.
Berry, a Dayton recruit, emerged from a minislump with a pair of singles, the first of which tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth and the second of which nearly took the foot off Lake Catholic relief pitcher Kyle Kromar to start the sixth. His first hit scored Johnny Fasola, who led off with a walk, and got to third on a fielder's choice and wild pitch.
"All week long I worked on shortening my swing and getting the ball in play," said Berry, who is third on the team in hitting at .453 but leads the club with 10 home runs and 48 runs batted in, both school records.
Lake Catholic (22-9) did not go quietly. The Cougars led, 1-0, in the top of the fourth inning following a lead-off triple by Adam Urbania and a single by Dylan O'Donnell. They were still in the game when the Warriors scored twice in the bottom of the fourth but things took a bad turn when Walsh Jesuit scored two in the fifth.
Freshman catcher Cassidy Brown started the two-run fifth with a double to right-center and Anthony Marotto --the ninth batter in the lineup -- reached on a bunt single. A walk to Marco Caponi loaded the bases and Brown scored on a wild pitch and Marotto scored on a sacrifice fly by Fasola.