Staff photo / Mason Cole. Ursuline starting pitcher Jack Ericson throws a pitch during the Fighting Irish's game against Warren JFK on Monday at Cene Park.

The Warren JFK Eagles shook off a slow start to defeat the Ursuline Fighting Irish 4-1 at Cene Park on Monday.

The first two innings were all Irish. Dylan Casey started the game with a leadoff triple and would score the first run of the game shortly after when Luca Ricchiuti reached first base on an error, giving the Irish a 1-0 lead. While the offense was making plays, Ursuline’s starting pitcher Jack Ericson was shutting down Kennedy as he retired the Eagles’ first eight batters in order.

“We went down 1-0 early on,” Kennedy head coach Jim Ciambotti said. “We had a couple mental mistakes, a couple of balls fell for them that maybe should have been caught, but we kept our composure.”

Momentum began to shift for the Eagles in the third inning. After Ericson got the first two Kennedy batters out, he walked Michael Condoleon, giving Kennedy its first base runner of the game. Then, on the ensuing at bat, Aiden Rossi smoked a single into center field, batting in Kennedy’s first run and tying the game at 1-1.

“It was a great at bat,” Ciambotti said. “That was the thing that let us breathe a little bit. We tied the ballgame, and we were able to gain a little confidence and string something together from there.”

After a strong start to the game, Ericson, who had three strikeouts for the Irish, seemed to be a bit rattled after his long at bat against Rossi. In the fourth inning, Ericson gave up an RBI double to Jake Hettrick which scored one run for the Eagles and a sacrifice fly to Michael Bartoe which scored another. Kennedy quickly pulled ahead to a 3-1 lead. Hettrick, who led his team with two hits, said the Eagles took advantage of their situation in the fourth inning.

“You need to score at least one run to win the game,” Hettrick said. “And that’s what we’re trying to do every time we come out on the field. We put the pieces together, we had the right timing, and we just made the most of it.”

While the Eagles offense was beginning to click, Kennedy’s starting pitcher Jaden Rishel began to find his groove. Rishel pitched four innings for the Eagles and recorded four strikeouts. After the Irish’s first inning run, Rishel locked in and helped his team remain error free the rest of the night. Ciambotti said that Rishel is still getting his feet wet early in the season.

“If Jaden throws strikes, he can beat anybody,” Ciambotti said. “He’s got to get ahead, and he’s got to mix his pitches up. He’s got to be consistent, and he’s got to throw strikes. This was only his third or fourth time on the mound because he’s coming back from basketball, so he was slow getting on the mound and facing live hitting.”

Hettrick took over pitching duties for Kennedy in the fifth inning. In three innings, Hettrick held the Irish scoreless as he struck out three Ursuline batters while only giving up two hits.

“I’m really not a guy who’s going to blow it right by you,” Hettrick said. “But I’m going to throw strikes. I’ve grown to trust my defense and trust the guys I have around me, and I know nothing’s getting through with them.”

Hettrick’s hitting and clutch pitching helped Kennedy to close out the Irish. Ursuline head coach Paul Kempe said his team had hoped to do a better job of limiting Hettrick.

“They had four hits and he had two of them,” he said. “The double he had was big for them, and then he comes in and throws strikes. We wanted to put some pressure on him and get some guys on, but we weren’t able to do that.”

With the win, Kennedy improves to an overall record of 2-0-1. The Eagles will face Canton Central Catholic on Tuesday. With the loss, Ursuline’s overall record falls to 1-2. While the Irish had hoped for a better performance against Kennedy, they know they have to make a quick turnaround as they face Canfield on Tuesday.

“Against good teams, we just can’t leave guys on base,” Kempe said. “I think we have six or seven strikeouts, and we can’t have that, but we’ve got to be ready to roll tomorrow against a good Canfield team.”

mcole@tribtoday.com