St. Mary’s baseball back to North final

The last time the St. Mary’s baseball team played for a North title, the Bruins were playing Edmonton for the Stanley Cup; George Michael had the No. 1 song in the country and The Cosby Show was tops on the tube.The year was 1988 and the Spartans were on their way to a second straight state title. Now, 23 years later, St. Mary’s is back in the Division 3 North finals thanks to a convincing, 11-2, win over Saugus at Fraser Field on Friday.”We’re playing the way that we should be right now,” St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana said. “We played like this at the beginning of the season and its nice to be doing it again.”Click here for more photosThe Spartans (16-7) will take on No. 2 seed Newburyport this afternoon (1) at LeLacheur Park in Lowell for the sectional title.”If you’re here now, you have a shot,” Dana said. “It’s a one-game deal and we can only worry about what we can do.”The Spartans put this one away early on as they shredded Saugus pitching for eight runs in the second inning, leaving little doubt in Sachem coach Rich Angelo’s mind about St. Mary’s talents.”We absolutely ran into a buzz saw (Friday),” Angelo said. “They pitched better, hit better and fielded better than us. They deserved to win the game.”Kurtis White was the beneficiary of the 13-hit attack from the Spartans as the junior held Saugus (8-16) to one earned run on three hits, striking out five and issuing one walk.”That’s what Kurtis has done for us all year,” Dana said. “He gives us a chance every time he goes out there.”The Spartans had a chance in the first inning to score against Saugus ace Dom DiPesa but a strikeout with runners at first and third and two outs ended the threat.An inning later, the runs came fast and furious.Zach Paone led off with a walk and scored when Steve Carroll doubled to right. Zack Conti followed with a single for a 2-0 lead and Alex Fiste made it 3-0 when he singled, knocking DiPesa out in favor of Dan Groark.White upped the lead to 4-0 with a groundout before Joe Kasper drove in Fiste for a 5-0 lead. Paone’s sacrifice fly made it 6-0 before Carroll picked up his second and third RBI of the inning for an 8-0 lead after two.”The guys put the ball in play well,” Dana said.White made one mistake and Groark made him pay with a long homer to lead off the third. Steve Blaney then reached on an error and scored on a two out single from Ty Kennedy.Any inclination of a Saugus comeback got erased in the bottom of the third when White tripled home Fiste for a 9-2 lead. AN error scored White to make it 10-2 and Wilkins crossed on Matt Turmenne’s single to center for the game’s final run.After that, White took over on the bump. Over the final four innings, the junior allowed only a leadoff single to pinch hitter Tom Trainor in the seventh.”St. Mary’s is very much a rhythm team and they feed off each other,” Angelo said. “And that showed (Friday).”