Staff photo / Preston Byers Ursuline’s Rowan Urbach (center) celebrates with CJ Frasco (left) and Joe Balog (right) after the Irish scored the go-ahead run during the team’s game against Warren JFK on Monday in Struthers.

STRUTHERS — It is not about how you start; it’s about how you finish. That was at least true for Monday’s baseball season opener between Ursuline and Warren JFK, a game in which the Eagles started well and the Irish finished better.

Ursuline won the nonconference game at Bob Cene Park in Struthers 3-2 after a fifth-inning rally and clutch pitching down the stretch.

Kennedy’s Freddy Bolchalk threw four scoreless innings but ran into trouble in the fifth. Ursuline’s Anthony Triveri reached first on a dropped third strike before the Irish bats came to life; Rowan Urbach and CJ Frasco both singled, with Frasco’s hit driving in Triveri from second for Ursuline’s first run of the game.

Bolchalk then walked Johnny Cambert to load the bases with catcher Thomas Pesa coming up to the plate. Pesa connected on a pitch, driving it over the outstretched arms of shortstop Michael Condoleon. Andrew LaPolla struggled to pick up the ball in left field, and Urbach and Frasco scored to take Ursuline’s first lead of the game.

After a hard infield single by Joe Balog to load the bases again, JFK replaced Bolchalk with center fielder Taggart Carfangia, who managed to strike out Thomas Kosovan to end the inning and avert further disaster.

Kennedy head coach Jim Ciambotti said he and his staff were thinking about replacing Bolchalk before Ursuline took the lead.

“We were contemplating it, but we had his pitch count up and we want him to go into the 80s. So that’s what we did,” Ciambotti said. “But it was his ball game and we’re limited on players right now here that’s ready to pitch. He’s our gun, so we wanted to stick with him.”

Unlike the early innings, Kennedy’s bats had long fell cold by the sixth inning. Triveri, who began the game at shortstop and relieved starting pitcher Frasco during of the top of the fifth, retired the side in order in the sixth. After Carfangia did the same in the bottom of the inning, Kennedy had one final chance to either tie or regain control of the lead.

Leading off the seventh, LaPolla singled by driving a ball into right that the diving outfielder could not haul in. LaPolla then stole second as Pesa’s throw to second sailed into center field.

With no outs, JFK leadoff hitter Carfangia flew out to right, but LaPolla did not tag up to have a chance to advance to third. Michael Condoleon subsequently grounded out, which did move the tying run to third with Caleb Hadley, the team’s best returning batter coming to the plate.

Hadley, who hit a two-run double in the top of the first and singled in the fourth, could not become the hero Monday. Instead, Triveri struck out the Youngstown State commit to clinch the Irish’s first win of the season.

Triveri, who pitched 2.2 innings, earned the win, while Bolchalk was issued with the loss. Frasco threw 12 strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched.

Ursuline head coach Paul Kempe said he thinks the team displayed some early-season “jitters” but still found a way to win, a promising sign for a relatively inexperienced Ursuline team.

“Coming back and battling back and handling adversity and not putting any more pressure on ourselves is something we have really stressed this offseason,” Kempe said. “I’m extremely proud of these guys… We’ve still got a ways to go. We got to get a lot better.”

On the other side, Ciambotti said the team’s dip in hitting after the strong start could also be a symptom of the new season.

“We didn’t hit. That’s basically what it came down to. We knew we were going to struggle with a couple of our kids not getting any live at-bats ’til now. But we had our opportunities. We just didn’t cash in,” Ciambotti said.

Ciambotti also said he hoped the team would serve as a lesson to his team.

“I think we need to come back to Earth and realize the hard work you need [to do] to be successful,” Ciambotti said. “And maybe this will humble us going forward.”

Ursuline visits West Branch on Tuesday, while Kennedy will make the trip to Akron to play Archbishop Hoban on Wednesday.

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