St. Mary’s baseball opens tourney with win over Stoneham

Lynn ?Fresh off its Clancy Tournament title, the St. Mary’s baseball team began its quest for a Division 3 North title on Thursday at Fraser Field in a preliminary round contest with Stoneham.The visitors from the Middlesex League never stood a chance.Senior Ryan Beliveau struck out 11 and allowed two hits over six innings while the Spartans offense pounded out 14 hits to eliminate Stoneham, 12-1, and move on to Saturday’s (12) first round against Winthrop at Fraser Field.”Ryan was dominant (Thursday),” St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana said. “He gave us a quality start and it gave us a chance to win.”Beliveau struck out nine of his 11 in the first four innings making only one mistake, a two-out homer by Shawn Secondini in the top of the first that gave Stoneham a 1-0 lead.That margin didn’t last long as St. Mary’s responded to take the lead for good in the bottom of the first.Stoneham starter Ryan MacDonald walked Joe Kasabuski and Alex Glover to open the inning. Alex Fiste followed with a single to load the bases for Anthony DiSciscio and the Spartan clean-up man came through with a 2-run single that scored Kasabuski and Glover.”Anthony has been hitting the ball well all year long,” Dana said. “And he has turned him self into a tremendous first baseman.”A Beliveau ground out moved both runners up before a wild pitch allowed Fiste to score for a 3-1 lead.After a quiet second, Stoneham (6-15) had a threat in the third, drawing back-to-back walks with one out. Beliveau though whiffed Secondini and MacDonald to retire the side.St. Mary’s (15-6) added to its lead in the fourth, striking three times on four hits. Yano Petruzzelli and Justin Sharkey led off with singles. After retiring Nick Day, MacDonald allowed an infield single to Kasabuski to load the bases.Glover then slapped a single to left, scoring Petruzzelli and Sharkey to increase the gap to 5-1. Moments later, catcher Paul Wilson couldn’t handle a breaking ball, allowing Glover to make it 6-1.”They got that one early and we rallied for three right back and then things quieted down a bit,” Dana said. “But those three in the fourth were huge.”Stoneham mounted its most serious threat in the fifth as Mike LeBrun singled before Secondini and MacDonald reached with two outs to load the bases. Beliveau dug in and got Wilson swinging for his 11th and final strikeout to stuff the threat.The Spartans then put the game away in the sixth, exploding for six runs on six hits against three Stoneham hurlers.Sharkey doubled to begin things before Day drove him in on a single. Kasabuski singled and Glover reached on an error that scored Day for an 8-1 lead.Fiste followed with an RBI single and DiSciscio’s second two-run single of the game made it 11-1 and knocked MacDOnald from the game. The final run would come three batters later when Petruzzelli walked with the bases loaded.Fiste replaced Beliveau in the seventh and worked a perfect inning to seal the win.”This was a great team win,” Dana said.