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For the second consecutive day, with it's season on the line, Archbishop Curley responded with a game winning seventh-inning rally to survive and advance in the MIAA A Conference Baseball Tournament. After scoring three seventh inning runs to defeat Loyola, 5-4, on Wednesday, Curley scored yesterday's winning run, in the final frame, without benefit of a base hit, to edge Mount St. Joseph, 6-5, ending the season for the Gaels.
The tournament is now down to the final four with Curley and St. Paul's still alive in the elimination bracket, while Calvert Hall and Archbishop Spalding, the top two seeds, remain unbeaten in the winner's bracket. Weather permitting, one more team will be eliminated today when the Crusaders visit the Friars. Also scheduled for today, Spalding will visit Calvert Hall. The winner of that game will move directly to next Wednesday's finals, at Ripken Stadium, while the loser will host the Curley/St. Paul's winner, on Monday, for the other spot in the final.
Today's Calvert Hall/Spalding winner will be just one victory away from the title, while their last opponent will need to defeat them twice to take the championship of this doulble-elimination event. The "if necessary" game will also be played at Ripken Stadium, on Thursday, at time to be determined.
Battling for the second time in three days, Curley and St. Joe experienced a reversal of fortunes from when they opened the tournament on Monday. In that one, five Curley errors helped the Gaels break open a 3-3 game and go on to a 9-3 victory. Yesterday, after suffering a heart-breaking 4-3 extra-inning loss to Spalding on Wednesday, it was two St. Joe errors that helped Curley plate yesterday's winning run.
Keith Fritz, who made the start on the mound for Curley, opened the inning with a leadoff walk and eventually advanced all the way home as St. Joe committed a pair of infield miscues. It was nice topper to a strong offensive day for Fritz, who had two hits and scored two runs.
"We won today by playing small ball," said the senior right-hander. "St. Joe is a great hiting team, and they have been playing great baseball for the last two weeks."
Curley held a 5-3 lead over coach Dave Norton's club after four innings, but the Gaels would score twice in the top of the fifth to pull even. The Gaels got three straight singles, and then scored on a wild pitch and a fielder's choice.
Both starting pitchers were lifted in the fifth. Left-hander Norm Cushing came in for Fritz, and Norton called on Tommy Miller to replace lefty Zach Spahn (a distant relative of pitching great Warren Spahn of the old Milwaukee Braves) after the Friars had runners on first and second with one down. Miller was facing sophomore Sean Doyle, who already had a double and a single on the day, and he got the Gaels out of the inning by getting a ground ball which was turned into a nifty 6-4-3 double play.
Cushing held the Gaels scoreless the rest of the way to get the win. The senior left-hander was especially sharp in the top of the seventh, when he retired the hot-hitting Gaels in order. Cushing also had a big day at the plate. He doubled home the first two Curley runs of the day in the bottom of the first and he scored when Doyle doubled him home.
Kevin Taylor had two hits for the Gaels and Craig Howser hit his eighth homer of the year in the fourth. It was Howsers's fourth circuit clout in the last seven days. The Friars' sophomore second baseman Elisha Hill deprived Howser of a base hit leading off the sixth, going deep to his left to spear a sharp grounder to keep the Gaels slugging right-fielder off the bases.
If rain forces postponement of either game today, the first make-up date will be on Saturday. Stay tuned to DigitalSports for any updates.
Archbishop Curley 6, Mount St. Joseph 5
MSJ 200 120 0 - 5 9 3
AC 311 000 1 - 6 8 2
Spahn, Miller (5) and Riehl; Fritz, Cushing (5) and Waltman
2B: AC-Cushing, Doyle, Niederrhauser.
HR: MSJ-Howser.
WP-Cushing LP-Miller
