Ursuline's CJ Frasco gets set to deliver a pitch during the Irish's 3-0 win over Cardinal Mooney on Wednesday in Struthers.

STRUTHERS — Mistakes and missed opportunities defined Wednesday’s rivalry baseball game between Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney, of which the Irish emerged victorious 3-0 at Bob Cene Park.

In what would have been the final out of the first inning, Ursuline pitcher CJ Frasco reached base safely on an infield error. Two batters later, Frasco scored the game’s first run on a Thomas Pesa single.

The Irish added some insurance in the bottom of the fourth, again as a result of seemingly routine infield plays going awry. Unlike in the first, the Cardinals were victims of Cene Park’s lights in the fourth.

On a Joe Balog pop-up Mooney’s first baseman lost track of the ball in the lights overhead. Unfortunately for him the ball fell to his right in fair territory, allowing Balog to not only reach base but leg out a double amid the confusion.

After a walk, Mooney pitcher Johnny Brenner recorded two outs and appeared to be on the verge of a third when he walked another batter to load the bases with Rowan Urbach coming up to the plate.

On the second pitch of his at-bat, Urbach got enough contact on the ball to send it high in the air but not very far. As Mooney’s catcher settled under the pop-up, he also lost sight of the ball, which fell between a few Cardinals for a foul ball.

On the next pitch, Urbach singled to center field, scoring two more Ursuline runs.

The luck solidly remained with the Irish on Wednesday, however, as Mooney struggled to connect on many of Frasco’s pitches. In addition to scoring a run, Frasco allowed just four hits in a 13-strikeout shutout.

Brenner, who pitched 5.1 innings, struck out seven batters and allowed five hits, two earned runs and five walks.

After the game, Ursuline head coach Paul Kempe commended both pitchers, but especially Frasco.

“CJ pitched his butt off. Such a great performance for him. He’s a senior leader. It’s the guy you want in that spot,” Kempe said. “CJ had it from the beginning and kept challenging them. I think he got better as the game went on.”

With the win, Ursuline (10-7) avoided being swept by its rival; Mooney (5-12) won the first meeting of the season 3-1 on April 9.

Both coaches said any game between the two teams means more.

“It’s the best rivalry in the Youngstown area,” Kempe said. “It is the best in Northeast Ohio, and I’ll put it in the top five in the state. It doesn’t matter what the records are.”

Mooney head coach Eddie Reese said the sting of defeat hurt, especially since a season sweep was at stake, but that the Cardinals would have to move on nonetheless.

“It definitely means more,” Reese said. “It would have been nice to sweep them. I don’t think we’ve swept him in about six or seven years, so it would have been big for us, big for our confidence right now.

“We’re trying to find that spark and we wish today — winning this game would have boosted our confidence back up, but everything’s still in front of us. Tournament’s still out there. It’s gonna sting for today, but come tomorrow, we gotta forget about it and move on.”

The Irish are set to travel to Howland today for a 5 p.m. game. The Cardinals have the day off before hosting Lake Center Christian on Friday at 7 p.m.

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