For The Dialog
WILMINGTON – Top-ranked St. Mark’s found itself in a 3-0 hole early in its baseball semifinal against fourth-seeded Dover on May 28 at Frawley Stadium. But the Spartans went a familiar route, chipping away at the deficit and scoring a 5-3 win.
St. Mark’s will face No. 3 Caravel in the baseball state championship Tuesday at Frawley Stadium at 7 p.m.
The superb pitching matchup featured the Senators’ Garrett Lawson and St. Mark’s Andrew Reich. They dominated the first two innings, as each hurler struck out four.
Dover struck first in the third. One-out singles by Avery Tunnel, Jarvis Worthy and Jordan Hutchinson loaded the bases. Lawson then slammed a pitch into the gap to clear the bases. St. Mark’s Chris Ludman said the Spartans’ plan then was simple.
“One run at a time, let’s chip away at this,” Ludman said.
The Spartans earned one in the third as Austin Colmery drew a one-out walk and stole second. Tyler Kaczmarczk drove him in with a single to make it 3-1.
Reich started a key double play in the fourth, fielding a hard comebacker and firing to second. The runner at first was out by a whisker.
St. Mark’s cranked up the offense in the bottom of the fourth. Tommy Gibb tripled to the gap. With two outs, Lawson walked Ludman to put runners on first and third. Jeremy Vogel then singled in courtesy runner Thomas Armiger to cut it to 3-2, and Colmery brought home Ludman to tie it up.
“Jeremy came through beforee me, and I knew I had to get it done,” Vogel said. “I got my pitch and delivered.”
Reich escaped damage in the fifth by rolling another double play, and St. Mark’s went for its first lead in the bottom half. Sean Gilardi drew a two-out walk and took third on Gibb’s single. Armiger stole second, and Matt Theodorakis was walked intentionally to load the bases. Lawson had Ludman at 0-2, but he hit him on the forearm to knock in the go-ahead run.
Gilardi came in to relieve Reich to start the sixth and shut down the Senators. The Spartans picked up an insurance run as Colmery reached on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gilardi. Gilardi set the Senators down in the seventh to send St. Mark’s to another title game.
Spartans coach Matt Smith said his team’s tough schedule helps them when they fall behind.
“We have been down before this year to tough teams, so we know we are never out of the game,” he said.
St. Mark’s and Caravel met previously this season, with the Spartans earning a 4-3 win. The teams have also met in the finals in 2007, 2013 and 2014. The Spartans won the first two.
