St. Mary’s baseball advances against Greater Lowell

LYNN – Coming into Thursday’s MIAA Division 3 North tournament first-round game against Greater Lowell, St Mary’s coach Derek Dana wanted his players to establish their dominance right away.Did they ever.The Spartans took advantage of every hit, every error, and every opportunity their opponents gave them en route to a 15-0, six-inning victory over the Gryphons.Click here for a photo gallery.The Spartans know they’re playing Monday at 4 p.m. somewhere. But it could either be at Fraser Field in Lynn or at Greater Lawrence, depending on who wins Saturday’s Weston-Reggies game. Greater Lawrence is the higher seed while Weston is seeded lower than the Spartans.But there was plenty of time to figure all that out. St. Mary’s got contributions from just about everyone who swung a bat or put on a glove. Brendan Deleire used his nasty breaking stuff to keep the Gryphons off balance and befuddled. He allowed only five hits while striking out 10.”He did what he’s been doing the last few times he’s been out there,” said Dana. “He threw strikes and pounded the zone. When you get the pitching we’ve been getting, you’re always in the game.”Dana felt that on a day as hot as Thursday, it would be nice to get the starter out and rest some of the regulars to boot. Check. St. Mary’s scored in every inning, and Dana loved that.”We were up 6-0 by the third inning,” he said. “That’s huge for us.”St. Mary’s hit the ball well, but the Gryphons also committed five errors. Moreover, the Spartans ran the bases, with two runners swiping second as lefty starter Nik Powers of Greater Lowell was attempting to pick them off.”I just like what we did all the way around,” Dana said.There were plenty of offensive heroes, but by far the biggest was Victor Molle, who had three of St. Mary’s 12 hits and knocked in five runs.St. Mary’s got on the board right away with two out in the first when Molle doubled and Dan Donovan singled him home.In the top of the second, Deleire got into a jam when Powers led off with a single and an error put runners at first and second. On Casey Torigian’s bunt, Deleire dove to catch it but couldn’t. He still, however, had the presence of mind to nail the runner at second.”He just stayed with the play,” Dana said. “That’s what we teach them.”On the next play, Deleire was the star again, holding the runner at third on a hard grounder back to the box and getting the out at second. Then, he struck out Angelo Pilato to end the inning.That was the last time the Gryphons threatened. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, Chris Butler was hit by a pitch, Justin O’Blenes walked and Molle hit a sacrifice fly.Another sac fly by Clay Yianacopolus, along with Bryan Nerich’s base hit, made it 6-0 in the third.Molle knocked in his second run of the day with a single, and an error brought home another and it was 8-0 after four.The fifth inning featured a parade of pinch hitters, with most of them getting on base and scoring. Molle struck the big blow, a three-run double. In all, St. Mary’s scored five runs. When the Spartans scored their final two runs in the sixth, to make it 15-0, the game ended.Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].