Staff photo / Preston Byers Cardinal Mooney pitcher Johnny Brenner throws a pitch during the Cardinals’ 2-0 win against Columbiana on Tuesday in Struthers.

STRUTHERS — Fans at Bob Cene Park were treated to a pitchers’ duel Tuesday, as Cardinal Mooney’s Johnny Brenner and Columbiana’s Devin Daugherty allowed just five combined hits in a 2-0 Cardinals victory.

Brenner threw four perfect innings and limited the Clippers to a single hit in a dominant complete-game shutout.

After the game, Mooney head coach Eddie Reese praised his pitcher.

“He was great. He pounded the zone, went right right at them and just gave us a chance today,” Reese said.

At the plate, the Cardinals could do little offensively to help out Brenner, who went 0-3 and struck out twice at the plate himself. The Mooney lineup was mostly held in check by Daugherty, who recorded eight strikeouts and surrendered just four hits and one earned run in his six innings on the mound.

“I was really happy with the way Devin came out and battled. [He] got through some adversity; he had a guy on third with one out situation, came back with two strikeouts, so that was big,” Columbiana head coach Bryce Franken said.

Scheduled for 7 p.m., Mooney vs. Columbiana got off to a late start after a five-inning, 10-0 Waterloo win over Lowellville in the game immediately preceding it. Brenner threw the first pitch of the game at 7:39 p.m, but he and Daugherty did not waste much time on the mound.

The first inning took just nine minutes and the play kept at a brisk pace as the pitchers frustrated opposing batters. Brenner, in particular, struck out seven in the first four innings, keeping the Clippers completely off of the bases.

In the top of the fifth, Columbiana’s Max Conway broke up Brenner’s perfect game with a hard hit through the middle of the infield.

“I was a little upset when he hit the ball ’cause then he ruined my no hitter too,” Brenner said.

With the perfect game and no-hitter dashed, Brenner had to re-focus and maintain the Cardinals’ 1-0 lead. He managed to do just that, recording three consecutive outs to leave the Clippers’ first and only runner of the game stranded at second base.

Brenner polished off a gem in the final two innings, including the seventh, during which he struck out the side to finish the game with a dozen strikeouts.

Mooney catcher Trent Litman recorded three of the Cardinals’ four hits Tuesday, with Kaden Reese adding the other. Taco Verroco had the game’s only RBI, a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth that drove in Reese to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

The Cardinals scored their first run in the second inning on a balk by Daugherty with the bases loaded.

Mooney (4-5) is set to play at Cene Park again today at 7 p.m. vs. South Range. Columbiana (5-4) will face Southern today at Firestone Park.

Have an interesting story? Contact Preston Byers by email at pbyers@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @PresByers.