By Dylan Butler
With a stiff wind and temperatures in the mid 40s, Cunningham Park should have been anything but a hitter’s haven Monday. But after struggling at the plate in a 3-2 win over St. Edmund’s Friday, the St. Francis Prep baseball team was determined to break out of its recent hitting snide, even if icicles were forming on their aluminum bats.
The Terriers spent three hours Saturday morning at batting practice and it showed Monday as they erupted for 13 runs on 14 hits in a 13-5 rout of McClancy.
“Friday we could hardly hit the ball out of the infield,” said St. Francis Prep coach Bro. Robert Kent. “But today was a different story.”
It certainly was.
St. Francis Prep (11-3, 7-1 CHSAA) feasted on McClancy pitching from the outset, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first to erase a 2-0 deficit. Crusaders junior Peter Massaro didn’t help his own cause, walking leadoff batter P.J. Gorynski and hitting Steve Eng.
After Joe Ivazes popped out to first, Mike Aglialoro (3-for-4) and Brian Forman (2-for-3) hit back-to-back RBI-singles to right field to tie the game at 2.
Rich McGraw’s groundout to short scored Aglialoro and, after hitting Jason Leberfeld (2-for-3), it looked like Massaro would get out of the inning without any further damage as Dan Michitsch grounded the ball to Giuseppe D'Andrea at third.
But D’Andrea bobbled the ball — the first of five McClancy errors — to load the bases. Designated hitter Peter Resvanis cleared the bases with a double in the gap in left center field to put the Terriers ahead, 6-2.
“I was going to swing at the first pitch, and he threw me a first-pitch curveball,” said Resvanis, who was 2-for-2 with four RBIs. “I knew the second pitch would be a fastball and when it was, I just hit it.”
After each team exchanged runs, McClancy (3-6 CHSAA) got within 7-4 in the top of the fourth, the Terriers broke the game open in the bottom of the stanza, scoring another six runs on six hits.
After Eng led off with a single up the middle, he scored on Ivazes’ double to left. Aglialoro and Forman added back-to-back singles to put St. Francis Prep ahead, 9-4. McGraw grounded to short and what should have been a double play turned into yet another McClancy error. Leberfeld tripled to center field to bring in two more runs.
“They’re a very good hitting team, but you can only give them three outs in an inning,” McClancy coach Nick Melito said. “You give them extra outs and they’re going to burn you.”
Christ the King 5, St. Edmund Prep 1. The Royals got a stellar outing from starter Jose Diverge, who allowed just two hits and struck out 12. Chris the King raised its league mark to 2-3 with the win Monday.
Archbishop Molloy 10, Holy Cross 3. Keith Hahn and John Shipman provided the offense for the Stanners in this win Friday. Hahn had three hits and three RBIs, while Shipman smacked two hits and drove in two.
Monsignor McClancy 7, Christ the King 6. The Crusaders continued to play well following their upset over Xaverian, topping the Royals Friday afternoon. Anthony Russo was a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBIs in the win.
St. Francis Prep 3, St. Edmund Prep 2. The school’s varsity quarterback showed his versatility with a pinch-hit single in the sixth, scoring A.J. Foy and snapping a 2-2 tie. Mark Foris fanned 14 through five innings of work for the Terriers.
Cathedral Prep 15, St. John’s Prep 7. The Crusaders stayed unbeaten in league play with their league win over the Red Storm last week. Ryan Coyle was the catalyst for Cathedral, allowing just two earned runs while smacking three hits in the win.
Archbishop Molloy 14, Monsignor McClancy 4. The Stanners got a three-hit performance from Bill Miller, as well as two RBIs. The victory was the eighth overall of the season for Molloy against only two defeats.
St. Francis Prep 7, Holy Cross 0. The Terriers dominated their archrivals for a second time this season last week, as Danny Weinman fanned eight and gave up just three hits.
— Anthony Bosco contributed to this story
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
