For The Dialog
WILMINGTON – Salesianum found itself trailing top-ranked St. Mark’s, 5-1, Wednesday night at Frawley Stadium before rallying for a 7-5 win.
Facing the four-run deficit heading into their half of the fourth inning, the Sals’ began the comeback. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Zachary Miller, who singled home two runs to cut the St. Mark’s lead to 5-3. Kyle Hinton followed with an RBI single, and Sean Mazzio tied the score with a run-scoring double.
In the sixth, Miller reached on an error and Hinton doubled to put two men in scoring position. With two outs, Brian Novak came through, singling up the middle to score Miller and Hinton.
St. Mark’s did not go down without a fight in the seventh and final inning, opening the frame with consecutive singles. Salesianum then turned a 6-4-3 double play and held on for the win.
The Spartans started the evening in strong fashion, scoring twice in the first inning. Billy Phillips worked a one-out walk, and Dominic DiSabatino followed with a double. The next batter, Thomas Freeland, knocked both of them in with a single.
Salesianum cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first, but the Spartans got that run back in the second. They added two more runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Peter Berardi and a run-scoring groundout by Calvin Scott.
Joe Coyle pitched three innings in relief of Hinton for the win, which was the Sals’ seventh in their last eight games. They are now 9-4 and host Smyrna Saturday at 11 a.m. St. Mark’s lost only its second game of the season and is now 13-2. The Spartans visit Sussex Tech Saturday at noon.
