School Roundup: Yianacopolus shines in St. Mary’s tourney opener

Clay Yianacopolus lived up to the billing of a big-game pitcher, leading St. Mary?s to a 3-0 victory over Newburyport in the first round of the MIAA Division 3 North tournament Friday at Fraser Field.
?(Yianacopolus) has given us a chance to win every time he has toed the rubber, going the distance in eight of his nine starts,” said coach Derek Dana of the ace southpaw, who yielded just four hits while striking out six. “When our pitching is right and not walking batters or making errors in the field, as we did today, we?re a very tough team to beat.”
Offensively, the hosts picked up a solo run in the second inning, via a fielder?s choice off the bat of Brent Lozzi that scored Antonio Felix, who walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a Brendan O?Neill sacrifice bunt.
The Spartans? grabbed a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on a single from Donnie Weisse, scoring O?Neill and Lozzi, who recorded consecutive base hits before advancing on a Yianacopolus sacrifice.
?This was a very clean game against a very good team,” said Dana. “At the plate, we battled against a very tough pitcher (Scott Webster) and executed when we needed to.”
Up next for St. Mary?s (15-6) is a quarterfinal matchup Monday at Catholic Central League (Large) rival Arlington Catholic (16-5), who defeated the Spartans twice this season with both games requiring nine innings.
Division 3 North
Swampscott 3, Boston English 2 (9 innings)
Ryan Cresta?s go-ahead single with two outs in the top of the ninth inning scored Matt Hubauer, propelling the Big Blue past the No. 8 Bulldogs.
Corey Bleau struck out 11 batters over seven strong innings before Gavin Sullivan picked up the win with a spotless relief outing, fanning three.
The Big Blue jumped on top in the first when a sacrifice fly from Bleau scored Ryan January (2-for-4, three stolen bases).
No. 9 Swampscott (14-7) advanced to the quarterfinals to face Austin Prep Monday in Reading.
Division 2 North
Beverly 15, Arlington 0 (5 innings)
In what coach Dave Wilbur called his team?s “best game of the season,” the No. 10 Panthers cruised to a victory in the first round.
Beverly scored seven times in the second inning before capping the scoring two innings later.
Ted Leathersich drove in three runs while Frank DiOrio (2-for-3) and Gavin Sparkman finished with two RBIs each. Nick Cotraro and Sean Hanlon (2-for-4) also added run-scoring knocks. On the mound, David Drinkwater (three hits, five strikeouts) needed just 67 pitches for the abbreviated effort, which could allow him to throw for Beverly (12-9) in its quarterfinal at home against Boston Latin on Tuesday.
GIRLS? LACROSSE
Division 2 North
Ipswich 13, Fenwick 7
The No. 3 Crusaders? season concluded in the quarterfinals, despite matching three-goal, two-assist efforts from Colleen Corcoran and Merry Harrington. Fellow junior Tori Hernandez added a solo goal in the defeat.
Fenwick finished a back-and-forth first half trailing, 7-4, after the No. 6 Tigers scored a momentum-shifting tally in the final seconds.
?I really thought (Ipswich?s) energy carried over into the second half following that late goal,” said Crusaders coach Karen Guillemette, whose team finished with a 14-6 record. “We?re a young team that?s only losing four seniors (Jackie Hart, Nicole Muir, Emily Rocker and Lexie Rose) to graduation, so the girls should be proud of what they?ve accomplished this season.”
Harrington finishes the season with 138 points, including 115 goals.?She was extremely consistent in what was her breakout season. I?m very excited what she can do with another year of experience under her belt,” said Guillemette.