CARDS BEAT FRIARS 4-2, MAINTAIN FIRST

It was the critcal moment of a tense, well played baseball game between the area's #1 team and one of its nearest challengers, yesterday at Calvert Hall's Crispino Stadium.  And, as has happened so often before during Calvert Hall's recent reign over the MIAA A Conference, someone stepped forward to lead coach Lou Eckerl's club to victory.

Trailing 4-2 entering the top of sixth, third-ranked Archbishop Curley mounted a threat as Brandon Franke singled and Matt Wilson was hit by a pitch to give the Friars runners at first and second with nobody out, with the heart of its lineup coming to the plate.   Enter Cardinal junior Mike Trionfo, a fire-balling right-hander who had fanned nineteen hitters in ten innings of work on the year, who was summoned into the contest by his skipper.

Trionfo delivered.

He started by getting Brad Waltman swinging for the first out.  The dangerous Sean Thompson, who already had two RBI with a single and a solo home run, then came to the plate and, after Trionfo fell behind in the count, 2-1, Eckerl ordered an intentional walk to load the bases.  Trionfo was up to the task as he calmly fanned clean-up hitter Mike O'Neil and got Norm Cushing to ground out to first to end the Curley threat.  He then struck out the side in the seventh, as the Cardinals notched their tenth MIAA A Conference win of the year against one loss.

 

"We hung with them, but we just couldn't get that clutch hit when we needed it," lamented Curley coach Jack Thomas.

The Friars out-hit the Cards 7-4 and had five hit batsman and four walks, but as Thomas said, they just couldn't cash in, as they stranded 13 runners on the day.

"We had lots of chances," said Thompson, "we just couldn't get that big hit."

 

Calvert Hall ace Mike Dillon got his sixth win of the year, as repeatedly pitched out of trouble before getting the the helping hand from Trionfo.  Calvert Hall (18-5 overall) moved to 10-1 in the A Conference where it remains in a virtual first-place tie with Archbishops Spalding, which defeated McDonogh, 8-1, yesterday, to move to 11-2 in the league.  Curley (15-5 overall) slipped to 9-3 in the league and is now 1-1/2 games off the pace.

Yesterday's offensive star for Calvert Hall was Kevin Lingerman, who had a triple and a double and scored two runs, while right-fielder Greg Bryant drove in two in the first inning on a clutch line single to right.

The Cardinals scored two more runs in the fourth off Curley right-hander Kieth Fritz, one on an infield error and the other on a sacrifice fly.

The Cardinal keystone combination of shortstop Pat Bair and second baseman Patrick Fitzgerald made a big contribution to the win
in the top of the second, when the Friars had two on and two out.  Waltman hit a grounder that appeared headed for left field for an RBI single, but Blair back-handed it deep in the hole and flipped to second.  The low toss squirted away from Fitzgerald, preventing a force, but the talented second baseman chased down the ball and delivered a perfect strike to the plate to gun down Curley's Jon Sobczynski, who was attempting to steal a run.

Plenty of work still remains for the Cardinals, who will visit Curley on Tuesday, to makeup an ealier rain out, and then return home, on Wednesday with for a huge showdown with Spalding.

Curley, which also play John Carroll and streaking Loyola next week, still has one more game with Spalding as well, so it remains alive in the race for first, but the Friars must also contend with Loyola (8-4) and St. Paul's (7-4) who have each moved within striking distance of third place.

 

Calvert Hall 4, Archbishop Curley 2
AC   001 100 0 -   2  7  2
CH   202 000 x -   4  4  0
Fritz, Franke (6) and Waltman; Dillon, Trionfo (6) and Sawyer
2B: AC-Sobczynski; CH-Lingerman.
3B: CH-Lingerman.
HR: AC-Thompson
WP Dillon   LP   Fritz