Baseball: Spartans outduel Spellman

Count St. Mary?s starting pitcher Matt Costanza as a firm believer in the mantra that states “it?s not about how you start, but how you finish.”After yielding a two-out, solo home run in the first inning, the Spartans hurler found his bearings before his complete-game effort propelled the locals past Cardinal Spellman, 3-1, on Monday at Fraser Field.?He really settled down after that early mistake,” explained coach Derek Dana. “He competed hard the whole way through and fought his way out of a few jams.”Costanza?s final line featured six hits, seven strikeouts and no walks.The hosts tied the score in the second on an RBI fielder?s choice from Donnie Weisse, which plated Brian Nerich (2-for-3). The latter put St. Mary?s (5-3) ahead in the fifth with a run-scoring single, plating Ryan Boisselle.With runners on the corners in the sixth, Weisse added an RBI bloop single to left.Gloucester 2, Peabody 1At Gloucester, the Tanners tasted defeat for the first time this season after a 9-0 start, falling in 13 innings on a walkoff single from the Fishermen?s nine-hitter. David Apostilides (5 2/3 innings, 6 hits, 7 strikeouts) and Matt Correale (6 ? innings, 3 hits, eight strikeouts) combined to shut down the Gloucester attack for most of the afternoon. Peabody got an RBI double from Matt Gonick in the second before the hosts tied things in the fifth.Swampscott 10, Salem 8At Palmer Cove, the Big Blue (2-8) took a 6-0 lead in the second inning, only to see Salem come back and tie the game. Swampscott pulled away for good with a four-run fifth inning capped by a three-run double by Adrian Espinal that put Swampscott on top, 10-6.Swampscott?s big second inning was jumpstarted by Matt Hubauer?s leadoff double. Christian Llorente and Kyle Waters both had RBI singles that inning.?It was nice to get a win,” Swampscott coach Jason Calichman said. “Hopefully it gives us some momentum.”Freshman Gavin Sullivan went six innings (6 hits, 5 strikeouts) for the win. Jake Cooper came on in relief in the seventh.Beverly 14, Winthrop 0At Winthrop, Anthony Morrissey went the distance in his first varsity start, allowing just two hits while striking out five. Beverly (5-5) got three hits and four RBI from Nick Cortraro as well as two hits and two RBI from Tristen Fasheh.St. John?s 8, BC High 0At Danvers, St. John?s pitcher Evan Roberts threw a complete-game one-hitter after seeing his bid for a perfect game spoiled with two outs in the fifth inning. He finished with three strikeouts and didn?t walk a batter for the Eagles (8-1, 3-0 Catholic Conference).?We had great pitching and great defense,” Prep coach Dan Letarte said, noting that the team has committed only three errors this season.Both teams were 7-1 overall heading into the game. The win puts St. John?s in first place in the conference.The Eagles had big games offensively from Nick Latham (solo home run); Sawyer Billings (solo home run, 2 hits, 2 runs) and Rosario Missiti (2 hits, 3 RBI).Roberts has three wins, with the other two coming against Xaverian (5-0) and Catholic Memorial (4-1).Danvers 5, Revere 0At Danvers, the Patriots (2-6) had a tough time against Danvers ace Brandon Hyde. Hyde followed up a one-hitter against English with another one-hitter (6 strikeouts, 1 walk) and tied the school record for wins (21). He shares the honor with Ryan Holt (1999-2001). Kyle Norton spoiled Hyde?s no-hit bid with a single up the middle in the fifth inning.Revere pitcher Tommy Portrait was impressive, allowing only three hits. Raf Tylus had a two-run single in the first inning for Danvers. A bloop double and a single up the middle accounted for the other two hits. Danvers is 7-3.