Through five innings on the Babe Ruth Field at Cardinal Gibbons, on Wednesday, senior right-hander Ryan Staton was cruising along

with a 2-1 lead on the strength of Robbie Harris' eighth home run of the season, and Staton had held the Dons to just two hits at that point in the contest.

It looked like "senior day" would be a good one for the big right-hander, who had already beaten both Calvert Hall and Archbishop Curley during the season.

 

Ryan Taylor singled to start the sixth for Blakefield, but after Andrew Hahn flied out to right, it appeared to be a routine inning.  Eight batters later, however, Gibbons still had not recorded the second out.  Taylor then came to the plate again and lined out to first for the second out of the inning.  Still, the damage was not done, as Loyola scored two more times with two outs to take a 10-2 lead, and they went to win 11-3 in key MIAA A Conference game.

 

The Gibbons loss, coupled with St. Joe's 11-1 win over Gilman, eliminates the Crusaders from the playoffs.  Coach Lee Schwartzenberg's club ends the regular sesaon at 7-11.  St. Joe is 7-10 with one game remaining.  Even if the Gaels should lose their season finale and finish at 7-11, the sixth and final playoff spot goes to St. Joe because they defeated Gibbons both times in head-to-head competition, which decides the tie-breaker.

The Gaels got a grand-slam from Craig Howser, who had five RBI on the day, and Matt Staso was 4-for-4 at the plate.  Ryan Kemp got the win for coach Dave Norton.

Loyola's Tommy Carroll went five innings and scattered five hits for coach Mike Del Gaudio to get the win.

"Gibbons is a good hitting team," said the right-hander. "We played well as a team, and I had lots of support from our defense."

Loyola third-baseman Kevin Shields had two hits and three RBI in the big sixth inning and catcher Mark Quaranta reached base in all four of his plate appearances. The junior receiver had a double and a single and drew two walks.

With Ian Sedney on the mound in the seventh for the Dons, the Crusaders  scored a run and had the bases loaded with no outs when DelGuadio summoned left-hander Harry Slade to the mound.

Slade struck out the side in order to end the game.

Loyola improved to 11-6, and thier win, coupled with the St. Paul's 11-0 loss to Spalding, clinches the fourth seed in the playoffs for the Dons.

Spalding right-hander Jason Patten pitched a perfect game for the Cavaliers, who finish the regular season at 15-3, tied with Calvert Hall.  The Cardinals, however, will have the #1 seed in the conference, based on the third tier tie-breaker. Calvert Hall and Spalding split their two meetings, but Calvert Hall gained the tie-breaker by virtue of its two wins over third-place Curley.  Spalding split two games with the Friars.

Calvert Hall will be gunning for its fourth straight MIAA A Confernce crown, but if the regular season proved anything, it is that this year's playoff tournament will be wide open.

Loyola 11, Cardinal Gibbons 3
LOY  100 00(10) 0 -  11 9  1
CG    101 000 1     -   3  7  4
Carroll, Sedney (6), Slade (7) and Quaranta; Staton, Schillnberg (6) and Parker
2B: LOY-Quaranta; CG-Staton, Parker, Grace, Fratantuono.
HR: CG-Harris.
WP-Carroll   LP-Staton


MIAA A Conference Baseball Championship Bracket