Two Buffalo Signees Lead Teams to State Title Games

Eisenbach wins Ohio Division IV Title; Pizzuto finishes as runner-up in Division II

R.L. Eisenbach

BUFFALO, NY - Head coach Bill Breene has not only cut into the heart of the Mid-American Conference's target recruiting area with his class of 2010 signees, he seems to have stolen a couple gems, as left-handed pitcher R.L. Eisenbach (Newark, OH/Newark Catholic) and outfielder Bobby Pizzuto (Kirtland Hills, OH/Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) each helped lead their teams to Ohio State Championship games recently.

Eisenbach, a 2005 Puma All-America honoree, helped lead Newark Catholic (30-4) through Ohio's Division IV Tournament, as he finished his season with a 9-0 record and a State Title win with a dominating one-hit performance against Tipp City Bethal in the state championship.

The southpaw pitched six innings of dominating baseball, allowing one hit and mowing down 10 batters, but two unearned runs in the seventh inning had him staring at the loss before the Green Wave rallied with two runs to snatch the state title for the second time in three years with a 3-2 win.

Eisenbach, who was also a member of the 2004 championship team, also earned a 3-2 win in the regional championship against Berlin Hiland to get the team to the state semifinals. He struck out 13 and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in the gem. In four tournament appearances, the senior struck out 37 batters.

Eisenbach's Newark Catholic has won a state-record six championships, and the lefty will follow Eastern Michigan's George Biddle to the MAC, as Biddle helped the Eagles to a MAC Tournament appearance this season.

Pizzuto also helped Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (24-8) throughout its state tournament run to the championship game, as the speedster hit a sixth inning RBI triple in the Division II district championship game against Jefferson that helped the team hold on for a 7-6 win. In the Regional semifinal against Padua, Pizzuto played a large role in the Lions' win, as he singled to lead off the game, stole second, took third on a grounder and scored on a heads up play, as the catcher overthrew the pitcher on a throw back from the plate. The Lions won the game against University of Akron recruit Jake Plata, 4-2.

Pizzuto also helped in the state semifinal, as he lifted a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to score the winning run of the game in a 3-0 win against third-ranked Bellefontaine, as the unranked Lions beat University of Kentucky recruit Chris Walden. However, the Lions run ended on June 6, as Walsh Jesuit beat them 3-0 in the state finals.

Kori Korenek's (Cuyahoga Falls, OH/Woodridge) Woodridge team lost in the Division III Regional Semifinals, but still posted a school-record 25 wins and Adam Skonieczki's (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) Union-Endicott squad lost in the Class AA Section IV semifinals to Binghamton in nine innings after reaching a ranking of sixth in the state in the May 28 New York State Sports Writers Association rankings. Jeff Hains' (Mexico, NY/Mexico) Mexico team also made the sectional semifinals.

The Bulls finished 15-37 overall and 6-21 in the Mid-American Conference under seventh-year coach Breene.

06/08/2006