PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Matt Costanza got the job done on the mound and at the plate as the Spartans captured the Clancy tournament title.
By GORDON VINCENT
LYNN – On the hottest day of the season, no one kept his cool better than St. Mary’s Matt Costanza.
Costanza pitched a complete game without giving up an earned run, and on offense drove in one run and scored the other to lead the Spartans past North Reading, 2-1, in the championship game of the 35th Nipper Clancy Tournament, Saturday, at Fraser Field.
“Matt is an experienced pitcher and he’s won some big games for us,” St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana said. “He did a nice job today of throwing strikes and keeping the ball down against a very good lineup.”
Costanza was a unanimous selection as tournament MVP. On the mound, he picked up a save with a scoreless seventh inning in Friday’s first round win over Classical, and then allowed just four hits with no walks (though he did hit a batter) and five strikeouts on Saturday. He set down 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.
At the plate, Costanza doubled and scored on Friday. On Saturday, his single to centerfield in the third inning brought in Nick Peveri, and then Costanza scored what turned out to be the winning run when Ryan Turenne tripled to the fence in right center.
“Winning the Clancy Tournament is one of the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season,” said Dana, who is a class of 1988 St. Mary’s graduate and played in this tournament. “It’s a great showcase for the city of Lynn, and we’re proud to be a part of it.”
North Reading (17-3) scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, Robert Donohue and John Merullo singled back-to-back. Sean Castro followed with a ground ball to Jack Ward at second base. With Castro hustling, Ward rushed his throw and the ball went into the Hornets’ dugout, allowing Donohue to score and the other runners to advance to second and third. Costanza retired Jeffrey Mejia on a lineout to first baseman Dan Hennessey to end the inning.
The St. Mary’s rally in the top of the third started benignly enough when North Reading starter Daniel Madden hit Peveri with a pitch with two outs. Peveri stole second and scored when Costanza singled up the middle. Costanza went to second when the the throw to the plate sailed over the cutoff man, and then he scored easily when Turenne followed with a long triple.
North Reading had just one base-runner after the second inning. Patrick Driscoll singled to left to lead off the fourth, but he was erased on a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play. The Hornets didn’t hit a fair ball out of the infield after that. The Spartans got some good defense, especially from Ward, who after his error handled eight chances flawlessly.
The Spartans’ (15-7) had a couple of chances to add on against Madden, who allowed seven hits, walked one, hit two and struck out three. John Mulready laced a double to left with one out on the fourth, but advanced no farther. In the seventh, St. Mary’s put a pair of runners on base but Madden worked his way out of the jam.
