Schuster’s Complete Game Against Terra State Not Enough For Commodores; Eliminated By Delta In Second Contest

May 7, 2025 - - The Lorain County Community College baseball team was eliminated from the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 12 Division III Tournament on Wednesday, suffering a pair of losses at Sports Force Parks in Sandusky, Ohio.  LCCC lost a close 4–2 game against Terra State Community College and a suffered a 10–0 shutout against Delta College.

The Commodores gave the No. 1-seeded Terra State Community College Titans all they could handle in their opening matchup. They hoped to carry that momentum into the elimination game against Delta but managed only two hits and were shut out, 10–0.

Against Terra, LCCC struck first in the top of the second inning. After loading the bases with one out, Giovanni Crawford (Reno, Nev./Earl Wooster HS) laid down a successful suicide squeeze bunt to score Colin McCrone (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood HS) from third, giving the Commodores the early lead.

Nick Schuster (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS) was strong on the mound, tossing two perfect innings to start the game. After a leadoff single in the third, he calmly retired the next three batters with two groundouts and a strikeout to halt any threat.

However, a misplayed infield pop-up in the fourth opened the door for Terra. The Titans capitalized in the next at-bat with a home run, seizing a 2–1 lead. They added two more runs in the fifth after loading the bases with no outs and singling in a pair. Schuster limited the damage, inducing a flyout to outfielder Nick Jiminian (Bronx, N.Y./Mooresville HS) who threw out a runner trying to advance to third after the catch. A groundout to second ended the inning.

LCCC cut into the deficit in the seventh when Travis Gentry (Huntsville, Ala./Huntsville HS) tripled and scored Jacob Sanders (Columbia Station, Ohio/Columbia HS), who had reached on a walk.

Schuster continued his impressive outing into the eighth, retiring the side in order. He finished his final start of the season with five strikeouts, no walks, and only three earned runs allowed.

Jackson Frame (Newcastle, Australia/Callaghan HS) reached base three times via walks for the Commodores.

In the second game of the day, LCCC ran out of steam. Despite holding Delta scoreless in the first inning—thanks in part to stranding a runner in scoring position—the Commodores couldn't recover offensively.

Kulwicki started on the mound for LCCC, pitching 3.2 innings with two strikeouts. Jonathan Lockard (Hartville, Ohio/Lake HS) provided 0.2 innings of relief, and Yannick Kiss (Bad Homburg, Germany/Phillip-Reis Schule) closed out the game. The defense turned two double plays to keep things competitive, but the offense couldn't gain traction.

Catcher Kian Ortiz (Lorain, Ohio/Clearview HS) and Kulwicki each recorded a hit—LCCC's only two of the game.