SAUGUS – When Saugus is good, it is very, very good. When it?s not ?Friday, at least, the Sachems didn?t have to worry about what happens if they?re not good. They had it all going for them at World Series Park. Dan Groark took care of St. Mary?s bats, and Dante Deltorto took care of everything else. The result was a 3-1 Sachem victory over the Spartans that had coach Tom Gaeta smiling afterward.Click here for a photo gallery of Friday’s game.?It was a great game,” he said. “I thought both teams played well. Both pitchers did well. Groark was terrific on the mound, and he had that big RBI in the sixth. That was huge.”On the mound, Groark only gave up three hits.And where he only struck out five, it meant the Sachems were also making the plays in the field.And that?s something that stuck to St. Mary?s coach Derek Dana?s craw just a little.?In the games we?ve lost,” said Dana, “we just haven?t had good at-bats. We have to get much better at the plate. Anyone can catch popups.”They weren?t all popups, of course. At least one of them – of the bat of Kurtis White – in the top of the third had double, maybe even triple, written all over it. But Deltorto, playing left, ran it down, dove, and made a nice catch before it hit the ground.All Deltorto did in the bottom of the third was get the game-winning hit – a two-run opposite-field homer that got caught up in the jet stream out in right field. When it left the bat, Cam Bordon, the right fielder, looked as if he might have a play. But the ball kept carrying, and cleared the fence easily.Deltorto knocked in Justin DiSantis, who had singled to center.St. Mary?s had taken a 1-0 lead an inning earlier when Jonathan Capano and Bryan Wilkins drew back-to-back walks and Bordon singled to right.But the Sachems escaped further damage when they nailed Zac Conti, who was trying to score on a double steal, at the plate.Once Saugus took the lead, Groark was only in trouble once ? and that occurred in the sixth inning when, with two out, Joe Kasper singled, bringing up Cam O?Neill, the cleanup hitter. O?Neill had hit a couple of shots already in the game, and Groark walked him on four pitches.?That wasn?t intentional,” said Gaeta when asked whether Groark, or anyone else from Saugus, had elected to be extra-careful to O?Neill.?It was a hot day, and Dan threw a lot of pitches,” Gaeta said. “We were just going after everybody.”Groark and first baseman Al Nahigian combined to make a nifty play on a 3-1 grounder to get the Sachems out of the inning.Groark gave himself a little breathing room in the sixth. Tom Trainor led off with a walk and went to second when the Spartans threw Shane Ripley?s sacrifice bunt attempt away. One out later, Groark hit a seeing-eye single that just eluded the glove of second baseman White.?Tomorrow,” quipped Gaeta, “that?ll be a line drive.”?I thought we played well,” said Dana. “Our pitcher (Vic Molle), that was only his second time out this year and I thought he did well.”Saugus ups its record to 3-4 while St. Mary?s falls to 2-3.
