St. Mary’s baseball ready for state semifinals

After a thrilling 10-inning, 7-4 victory against top seed Austin Prep at LeLacheur Park in Lowell on Saturday, the St. Mary?s Spartans hope they can carry that momentum into the EMass title game on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.
The Spartans (17-6), fresh off their first Division 3 North title since 1988, will take on South champion East Bridgewater in the state semifinals Tuesday afternoon.
It was a huge day for Matt Costanza on Saturday, as he drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th and earned the win in relief for the Spartans.
The East Bridgewater Vikings are riding some of their own momentum into Tuesday?s matchup. It took the Vikings (19-2) 11 innings to beat top-seeded Fairhaven, 2-1, in the Division 3 South final on Friday. East Bridgewater ace Connor Gavin pitched a classic, throwing 147 pitches in a complete-game victory. Prior to the final round, the Vikings had scored 25 runs over the course of two games after a bye in the first round of the tournament, beating Dennis-Yarmouth, 12-7, in the quarterfinals and defeating Old Rochester, 13-7, in the semifinals.
?They?re a tough team,” said St. Mary?s coach Derek Dana. “But this time of the year you?re going to see teams playing at their very best.”
St. Mary?s will likely turn to senior Clay Yianacopolus to take the mound for his 12th start of the season on Tuesday, after Brendan O?Neill went 6 ? innings in Saturday?s victory, and Costanza pitched 3 ? frames in relief.
Yianacopolus allowed just one hit in 5 ? innings against Whittier Tech in the Division 3 North semifinals, but walked nine batters in the start.
It will be a tough road for the Spartans in the state tournament, as they are the lowest-seeded team in Division 3 to reach the state semifinals. If they are victorious on Tuesday, they?ll have either West champion No. 1 Mt. Greylock (20-3) or Central champ No. 4 Auburn (16-6) to look forward to in the finals on Saturday at Holy Cross.
?When we?re focused and we?re executing,” Dana said, “we?re a really tough team to beat.”Katie Morrison may be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @KatieMo61.