By Anthony Bosco
The St. Francis Prep Terriers have had to deal with a lot of erratic play this season, something head coach Brother Robert Kent seems content to deal with as the regular season draws to a close.
After a somewhat difficult beginning to their season, the Terriers have raised their league record to 8-5 with a 13-1 trouncing of the Monsignor McClancy Crusaders Monday — within striking distance of the second place Xaverian Clippers.
“We’ve been playing inconsistent,” Kent admitted. “We have a lot of young guys and you have to play good defense. If you don’t, you get hurt in this league.
“Last week Molloy took advantage of that twice against us,” he added. “In other words, against a good team, if you give them extra outs they’re going to stick it to you.”
The Terriers did not have those concerns Monday. Pitcher E.J. Kapela made just one mistake, against the first batter he faced in the first inning. ?? ripped a lined shot to left and made it all the way home to give McClancy a short-lived 1-0 lead.
The Terriers got the equalizer immediately when centerfielder Brian Forman led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on a wild throw to third. Prep then took the lead in the second inning when, with two outs, Danny Iocco drew a walk and freshman second baseman Randy Belfiore smacked a home run to make the score 3-1.
Forman tripled and came home on Steven Yang’s single, giving St. Francis a 4-1 advantage.
Prep added four more runs in the third inning, including a grand slam by Belfiore, and three more times in the sixth to close out the scoring.
Forman finished with three triples and four RBIs, Belfiore added six RBIs and Mike Aglialoro had three hits and two RBIs. Kapela got the win, going the distance while striking out eight and allowing just four hits.
The win gave St. Francis an 8-5 league record and left it 14-6 overall.
“You got to try and improve every day,” Kent said. “It would be nice to catch Xaverian if we can.”
After games against Xaverian and Holy Cross this week, the Terriers are slated to take on St. Edmund, Xaverian and Christ the King in their final three league games next week.
St. Edmund 3-11, Holy Cross 2-1. The Knights were swept in a doubleheader Monday, dropping the first game on a seventh-inning single by St. Edmund’s Peter Orsi, who also got the win, and by being blown out in the nightcap. Joe Franzese got the win in the second game, allowing just two hits and striking out nine as St. Edmund improved to 3-11 in the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan.
Xaverian 2, Christ the King 0. Danny Christensen struck out six to earn the win for the Clippers, now 10-3 in league play. The Royals dropped to 7-5 with their third straight loss.
Cathedral Prep 11, St. John’s Prep 10. Cathedral scored four times in the seventh inning, including the eventual winning run when John O’Brien (3-for-5 three RBIs) doubled to score Vinny Johnson. Johnson (3-for-5, two RBIs) had a two-RBI double in the inning.
Archbishop Molloy 14, St. Francis Prep 5. Anthony DiTroia and Fred Estes both went deep for the Stanners, combining for five RBIs in this league win Thursday. Mike Vigorito added three hits and an RBI.
Monsignor McClancy 3, Christ the King 0. The Crusaders earned their second league win of the season Thursday thanks to Marty Noer’s shutout pitching. Noer drove in all the runs for McClancy on his sixth-inning three-run triple.
St. Francis Prep 12, Christ the King 5. Brian Morgan allowed only two earned runs, striking out seven for the Terriers in last Wednesday’s win. Prep overcame an early 1-0 disadvantage to go up 8-1 in the second inning.
Xaverian 13, Monsignor McClancy 0. The Clippers got a solid outing from starter John Sclafani, who fanned eight, raising the team’s record to 8-3 in league play.
Archbishop Molloy 14,. Holy Cross 0. The Knights fell again, as Mike Baxter had three hits, including a home run, and four RBIs for the Stanners.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedgr@aol.com or call 299-0300, Ext. 130.
