Staff photo / Dan Hiner Cardinal Mooney pitcher Ben Oddis delivers during the third inning of Tuesday’s Division IV regional semifinal against Norton at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.

CANTON — Cardinal Mooney baseball coach Ed Reese had all the confidence in pitcher Ben Oddis. And he delivered on Tuesday at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton.

Oddis pitched a complete-game shutout in the Cardinals’ 2-0 win over Norton in a Division IV regional semifinal.

“He settled in nicely and just competed his butt off all game,” Reese said. “He gave us a chance to win. Very proud of him.”

There was some traffic to deal with in the earlier innings, however.

Oddis worked out of a jam in the top of the third. Norton had runners on second and third, but after a long battle with Jonny Kievman, the junior righty caught the outside corner for a called third strike to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Jackson Lewis drew a walk and Collin Davis singled to right field to put runners at the corners with one out. Trent Widder, who entered as a runner for Davis, then stole second.

But the Mooney middle infielders did their jobs. Andrew Bushey flagged down a soft liner at the cut of the grass behind second base and Ryan Reese got to a grounder in shallow right field and threw a one-hopper to Oddis covering first.

From that point, Oddis was in command.

The Panthers had trouble getting anything going offensively, and Oddis got into a flow.

Davis singled to center field to open the seventh. But Oddis struck out the last three to end the game.

Oddis ended his day with 10 strikeouts and allowed four hits and two walks.

“It took a minute,” Oddis said. “There’s a bunch of people, a (large) crowd. I just want to be good for my guys and give us a chance.”

Oddis kept the Norton bats cold, and it indeed gave the Cardinals a chance.

In the bottom of the third, Luke Kollar reached on a leadoff single and stole second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and later scored on the second wild pitch of the inning for the game’s first run.

Kaden Reese reached on a sinking liner to right for a leadoff single in the fifth. Then a Bushey grounder didn’t soften when it hit the turf and bounced over the Norton first baseman’s head and down the right-field line for a single. Bushey then stole second to put runners at second and third for the second time in as many innings.

Then Johnny Brenner gave the Cardinals some insurance with a sacrifice fly to deep left field, scoring Kaden Reese.

“It’s always nice playing with the lead,” Ed Reese said. “We left some runners out there, and we have to do a better job executing, but we did enough today to get the job done.”

Mooney will face Canton Central Catholic, who beat Elyria Catholic 6-5, on Thursday back at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.

The Cardinals have experience against Canton Central Catholic. The two teams faced off on May 13 in Canton, and the Crusaders won 10-9.

But just like it’s done throughout the postseason, the Cardinals will lean on their pitching with a chance at the state semifinals on the line.

“‘We’re a pitching-first team,” Oddis said. “We just gotta give our offense a chance, and if it’s not there, (the pitchers) just gotta be on our ‘A’ game.”