by Joe DiBlasi
Jason Patton and Matt Hillsinger drilled back-to-back home runs, in the bottom of the fourth, backing up strong pitching by three Archbishop Spalding hurlers and lifting the host Cavaliers to 5-3 MIAA A Conference baseball victory over Cardinal Gibbons, yesterday in Severna Park.
Spalding junior left-hander Matt Jackson started on the hill and tossed five strong innings, holding a potent Gibbons line-up to six singles and a wind-blown double. He got scoreless relief from Jeff Kemp, who pitched the sixth, and Patton, who came on in the seventh to close out the contest.
“I used a two-seam and a four seam fastball today, and mixed in a curve ball,” said Jackson. ” I had to step up with Paul [DeVito] out.”
The Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but Gibbons got two of their own in the top of the fourth. Crusader third baseman Robbie Harris, who was 3-for-3 on the day, scored Gibbons’ first run on a fielders choice and Blake Thompson, who reached on the fielder’s choice, eventally scored on a single by Dominic Fratatuno.
The Cavaliers quickly answered, in the bottom of the inning, when Patton slammed an opposite field homer to right-center, into the wind, and left-fielder Matt Hillsinger followed with a shot of his own, to right, to give the Cavaliers a 4-2 lead. The Cavs would get one more in the fourth off of Gibbons starter Ryan Staton, on a single by Kemp and a double by Kody Hines.
Kemp came on in the sixth, yielding a harmless single off the bat of Staton, and Patton retired the side in order in the seventh.
“I was very satisfied with our pitching,and the bats are starting to come to life,” said Cavaliers coach Steve Miller. “This was a big confidence builder for Matt (Jackson); he was very successful at the JV level, and this was his first MIAA win.”
“I’ve got to give Spalding a lot of credit; they hit well, they got good pitching, and they made the plays defensively,” said Gibbons Coach Lee Schwartzenberg.
Things won’t get any easier for Schwartzenberg, as St.Paul’s visits the Babe Ruth Field on Monday.
Archbishop Spalding 5, Cardinal Gibbons 3
CG 000 210 0 – 3 8 1
AS 020 300 x – 5 9 1
Staton and Parker; Jackson, Kemp(6), Patton (7) and Palmer.
2B: CG-Smith; AS-Hines.
HR: AS-Patton, Hillsinger.
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