For The Dialog
WILMINGTON – Eighth-ranked Salesianum scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to upset No. 4 St Mark’s, 5-4, at Frawley Stadium on April 18. It was the second game of the day for the Sals as they defeated seventh-ranked Sussex Tech, 8-4, earlier at Frawley.
The Sals started sophomore Alex Hinton, who worked around a defensive error in the first. Salesianum struck in the bottom of the first as Josh Maguire led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He scored, beating a throw to the plate on an hit by Joe Setting.
The Spartans’ Billy Sullivan would settle in and shut the Sals’ offense down and let his offense go to work. The Spartans (6-3) tied it in the second as Matt Theodorakis walked and scored on a single by Shane Lougheed.
The Spartans added three runs in the fourth to chase Hinton. Hinton hit the first two batters in the inning, and Lougheed sacrificed them into scoring position. Jeremy Vogel singled home both runs to give the Spartans a 3-1 lead. Austin Colmery brought in the fourth run for the Spartans as he beat out a throw at first base. Ryan Campbell came in to get the final two outs of the fourth for the Sals.
The Sals got a run back in the fourth as Zach Gwynn singled and scored on a wild pitch. Sullivan retired eight in a row, including striking out the side in the sixth. He gave up a single, his third hit allowed in the game, to start the seventh and reached his 105-pitch limit one batter later.
Chris Ludman came in to try and get the save. He walked Brett Nordmeyer, and Campbell singled, but rightfielder Dominic Catalano rifled a throw to the plate to nail Garrett Million for the second out. Maguire singled home Nordmeyer to cut it to 4-3. The Spartans intentionally walked John Andreoli to load the bases.
Salesianum tied it on a wild pitch, and Ludman walked Zach Miller to reload the bases. Setting was hit by a pitch to bring Maguire home with the winning run. He said a walk off hit by a pitch was another way for this team to win.
“We are the dogs and we enjoy showing that we are never out of a game,” Setting said.
Campbell picked up the win as he gave up one hit in 3 1/3 innings of relief for the Sals (7-3). They are scheduled to face Mount St. Michael Academy on Saturday at noon, but that may be moved to Friday because of weather.
The Spartans got nine strikeouts from Sullivan, who Sallies coach Ted Godfrey thinks is one of the best pitchers in the state.
“He is a great pitcher and he was outstanding tonight,” Godfrey said.
The Spartans will host A.I. DuPont on Saturday at 1 p.m.
