Kent – St. Ignatius alum Michael McNamara was 4-4 and Massillon grad Aidan Longwell was 3-4 as they led the Kent State Golden Flashes to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Pitt Panthers on Tuesday night.
McNamara, who led St. Ignatius to the 2019 OHSAA Division I state championship, gave the Flashes a 2-0 lead on a two run home run in the bottom of the second.
“I took the first pitch fast ball, and I was on it,” said McNamara. “The next pitch he went up and out with it, and it was the same pitch. I was all over it.”
Photo by Al Kornspan
After Pitt added a run in the top of the third, Kent’s Kyle Jackson went yard in the bottom of the 5th to give the Flashes a 4-1 lead.
Jackson, from Bowling Green, Ohio, has hit a home run in three straight games.
Pitt added a run in the top of the eighth to make the score 4-2.
Kent scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth when Massillon Alum Aidan Longwell got his third hit of the night and scored on McNamara’s double.
After the game, Longwell, a former Massillon Tiger standout quarterback, discussed his 3-4 performance at the plate.
“Just took opportunities, pitches in the zone, putting good swings on them,” said Longwell. “Just taking what they were giving me and it worked out tonight.”
As Northeast Ohio standouts led Kent to victory over their ACC opponent, Kent’s head baseball coach Jeff Duncan talked about recruiting players from Northeast Ohio to help Kent compete at the national level.
“It’s really big, you know, this area is rich with talent and really good players and they’re tough,” said Duncan. “We play in some cold weather at times obviously and I think it is important to recruit in our backyard. You know guys like Michael McNamara and Aidan Longwell, who you saw today, they’ve had great success, they know what this baseball program is about They have been great leaders inside of our program. So we want to continue to recruit that pipeline.”
Photo by Al Kornspan
Tuesday night’s victory moved Kent to 22-10 on the season and 9-3 in MAC conference play.
Kent next faces Akron for a three game homestand, April 14-16.
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