LYNN — Needing a win to bring his team’s record up to .500, St. Mary’s pitcher Lee Pacheco brought his best effort Monday night at Fraser Field.
The result was 4-2 Spartans win over Catholic Central League rival Cardinal Spellman. St. Mary’s improved to 3-3 with the victory, it’s second consecutive win.
“We’re winning,” St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana said. “They’re tight games but it’s a good sign. Our bats still aren’t where we need them to be. We spent a lot of time on first to third defense, bunt defense and rundowns in practice. The first one we got (tonight), we throw it away and we allowed a run. We have a lot to clean up but it’s nice to get a win.”
Pacheco, making his first varsity start as a pitcher, threw seven innings and tallied five strikeouts without allowing an earned run.
“Lee was outstanding,” Dana said. “He showed a lot of composure. He said he wanted to finish the game. He was up there in pitch count. He wanted the ball and he got it done.”
The key hit of the game was a 2-RBI single from Lou Vidal, turning a 2-2 tie into a 4-2 Spartans lead.
Spellman jumped out on the Spartans in the top of the first for back to back singles. An infield groundout advanced the Cardinals runners to second and third with one out. Behind a strikeout and a groundout, Pacheco worked his way out of the jam to keep Spellman off the board.
A two-out single put the Cardinals on the basepaths in the top of the second. Pacheco had the runner picked off but he stole second safely after St. Mary’s dropped the ball on the rundown. The next batter hit a RBI single to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0.
That’s how it stayed until the bottom of the third, when Josh Mateo doubled to deep-center with one out. Mateo advanced to third base on a passed ball, and scored on a RBI pop-out from Colin Reddy that pulled Spellman’s first baseman deep into foul territory.
St. Mary’s took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Vidal reached on a fielder’s choice. Anthony Bono singled and Mateo reached on an infield error to load the bases. A sacrifice fly from Reddy scored Richie Pagliuca, who pinch ran for Vidal, to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
“We’ve been working on going opposite field and Colin did that there,” Dana said. “It was six feet away from being a gapper and clearing the bases. They battled and scrapped. They found a way to do it tonight.”
Spellman knotted the score in the sixth, taking advantage of a dropped pop-fly after a leadoff triple.
With the game tied 2-2, Vidal plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth. John Mulready started the rally with a single and Pacheco followed with a single of his own. A passed ball granted them second and third, setting the stage for Vidal to bring them home with his 2-RBI single.
“Lou had a tough at-bat earlier in the game,” Dana said. “It was nice seeing him get a big hit. We’ve been looking for him to step up. Tonight he stepped up.”
Pacheco retired the Cardinals in order in the seventh inning to seal the victory.
St. Mary’s hosts Archbishop Williams Saturday afternoon (1) at Fraser.
