Baseball: Fenwick holds off St. Mary’s

Holding off St. Mary’s after a Spartan sixth-inning surge, Bishop Fenwick prevailed for an 8-7 win at Donaldson Field on Monday.”A little bit too exciting for my liking,” Crusaders coach Kevin Canty quipped.Fenwick (6-1) raced to an 8-2 lead before St. Mary’s scored five times in the sixth to make it 8-7.Canty pulled starter (and eventual winner) Joe LeVasseur (5.1 IP, 5 R, 3 ER, 7 H) for James Dellisola, who got the final two outs in the inning. Brian Burke pitched the seventh for the save.The Crusaders got what proved the winning run in the fourth. On a first-and-third situation, Burke stole second and got into a rundown long enough for Gianni Esposito (2-3, 2 runs, 3 RBI) to score. Burke made it to second on the play after getting hit in the back.Brendan Deleire got the start for St. Mary’s (4-3, 2-2 Catholic Central League). He went 2 2/3 innings (6 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts). He took the loss. Chris Butler, Jake Cassidy and Victor Molle provided the relief.Chris Butler went 2-for-4 with a single, double and three RBI. Scott Betts (3-for-4, RBI) and Clay Yianacopolus (hit, 2 walks, RBI) also helped out.”We made a good comeback, we just haven’t been able to put together a full game,” coach Derek Dana said.Swampscott 1, Marblehead 0At Seaside Park, Trevor Massey pitched a complete-game shutout with five strikeouts for the Big Blue (2-5). Corey Carmody’s single (Swampscott’s only hit of the game) brought home Ryan January in the sixth inning for the lone run. January reached base after being hit by a pitch and he stole second.Marblehead pitcher Brian Daley pitched a whale of a game, allowing only one hit, striking out five, walking five and hitting one batter. Connor Green, Daley, John Cavolina and Brett LeBlanc had hits for the Magicians (2-4).Danvers 3, Gloucester 0At Gloucester, Danvers coach Roger Day notched his 400th career win (all at Danvers over the course of 26 years) thanks in part to a superb pitching performance by Brandon Hyde. Hyde went the distance, allowed two hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter. He only faced 23 batters and no one reached second base.The first two batters of the game scored for the Falcons. A.J. Couto doubled and Joe Strangie singled. Couto scored on a sacrifice fly by Ray Aroocho and Strangie on a fielder’s choice. The third run came in the sixth off a Tyler Dustin single that scored Dan Connors.St. John’s 3, Malden Catholic 1At Danvers, Justin Snyder pitched a gem of a game for the Eagles, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing one hit, one run, striking out six and walking three. Dustin Hunt got the save.Keith Leavitt tied the game at 1-1 for The Prep on a solo home run in the second inning. The Prep (8-1) added two in the third on an RBI double by Tyler Noe and an RBI single by Nick Bragole.Beverly 7, Salem 0At Salem, Alex Toomey pitched a 1-hitter for the Panthers (5-2), with 10 strikeouts. Teammate Anthony DiOrio had two hits and an RBI.Peabody 4, Revere 3At Peabody, Christian Morales had two key hits for the Tanners (7-1, 5-1). Matt McIsaac picked up the win and Pat Ruotolo recorded the save. T.J. McDonald hit a solo home run for Revere (3-4). Tommy Portrait went the distance for the Patriots.”We didn’t play our best,” said Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt. “We made some baserunning mistakes, but we got a couple of big hits when we needed them.”Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].