Rough first inning results in defeat for Prep baseball

DANVERS – St. John’s Prep pitcher Pat Connaughton had a case of the First Inning Blues Wednesday at the new Brother Linus Athletic Complex on the sprawling Danvers campus.Connaughton, a hard-throwing sophomore, hit one batter, walked two more, gave up two sacrifice flies and one hit, and was victimized by one error in allowing four runs – three of them earned – to BC High.After the first inning, Connaughton allowed only three hits and two walks, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch, and kept BC High off the board.Problem was, however, The Prep didn’t hit. The Eagles only had two of them off BC High pitchers Danny Murray and Harry Bourikas ? hardly enough to overcome that first inning. BC High won the game, 4-1, and clinched the Catholic Conference regular-season title.”I’m disappointed we didn’t hit more,” said Prep coach Pat Yanchus. “I don’t know. Maybe his (Murray’s) ball had a little dip to it. We hit an awful lot of ground balls. But he didn’t look all that overpowering.”The game was essentially over in the first inning, as Connaughton couldn’t settle down.”I don’t know what it was,” Yanchus said. “He didn’t get a couple of close ones, and then after that, I think he started aiming the ball instead of just throwing it.”Connaughton started the game off by hitting Virginia Tech-bound Tyler Honan with his first pitch. He then walked Bob McCunny and Billy Hocking to load the bases, prompting Yanchus to go to the mound and have a talk with his young pitcher.”I told him he had to get aggressive,” Yanchus said, “and to throw the ball.”However, it was a tough jam for Connaughton to escape unscathed. The next two hitters – Nick Napoli and John Micciche – hit sacrifice flies to make it 2-0, and Billy Kiley’s single to right knocked in Hocking with the third run.Kiley – the quarterback on BC High’s Super Bowl-winning team from last fall – stole second and scored the fourth run when Brandon Cipolla reached on an error.After that, the game evolved into one heck of a pitcher’s duel, as Connaughton settled down and Murray went 5 2/3 innings with just enough to keep the Eagles off balance.”I had a guy warming up in the first inning, and I’m glad I didn’t have to use him,” Yanchus said. “That would have been tough on our bullpen.”The Eagles, 12-5, had a few opportunities despite their lack of offense. And as luck would have it, Lynn’s Alex Markakis – cousin of Baltimore Orioles star Nick Markakis – found himself up twice with a chance to get his team back into the game.In the fourth, with the bases loaded, Markakis hit a tough grounder that BC High shortstop McCunny had to range up the middle to field, throwing to second for the force that ended the inning. Markakis was up again in the sixth with two runners on and one run already in (courtesy of an RBI groundout by John Vigliotti). This time, he got hold of one and sent it deep to left-center.Honan, who was also a star running back for that BC High Super Bowl team, went as far as he could go, leapt, and caught the ball (sending the hurricane fence surrounding the field toppling over in the process).The Prep stayed within range thanks to some nice fielding ? and two outfield assists to the plate. The first happened in the sixth inning when centerfielder Garrett Folger nailed Hocking with a perfect strike into catcher Tyler Coppola’s mitt. The second came on an even better play in the seventh, when Mike Yastrzemski (grandson of Red Sox great Carl Yastrzemski) threw out Kyle Larrow, who was attempting to tag up after the catch.