Central’s Rudnicki throws no-hitter but Irish still lose

No. 1 Defiance scores only run on error in 2nd

Central Catholic High School pitcher Jake Rudnicki.

ARCHBOLD — Central Catholic senior standout Jake Rudnicki tossed a no-hitter against No. 1-ranked Defiance in a Division II baseball district semifinal, but the Irish still fell 1-0 Friday.

A second-inning error by the Irish led to the only run after Rudnicki issued two walks in the inning.

Central Catholic was unable to break through against Defiance pitcher Rob Ziegler, who pitched a complete-game four-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

Rudnicki tallied eight strikeouts and walked four.

"Jake battled all game," Central coach Jeff Mielcarek said. "He pitched a heck of a game. Their kid pitched well and our kid pitched well. It was a great high school baseball game and they just came up with one more play than we did.

"The Irish had a chance to score in the top of the third inning, but failed to bring a run home with runners on first and second base and two outs.

"We had three or four guys on to lead off an inning," Mielcarek said. "We just couldn't come up with the big hit. They made a few diving catches that would have been runs for us."

Defiance (26-1) lost to Central Catholic 9-8 on May 2 for its only loss. In the final, the Bulldogs will take on Sandusky Perkins, which topped Bowling Green 6-3.