LYNN — St. Mary’s pitcher Lee Pacheco made his first start of the season Sunday afternoon against Catholic Central League foe Cardinal Spellman, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell by watching him pitch. Pacheco took a no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning, earning a win on the mound and helping to lift the Spartans to a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals at Fraser Field.
“It was Lee’s first game on the mound this year and he was on a pitch count, but he stayed below that number the whole game,” St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana said. “Every time I thought it might’ve been time to make a move, he kept dealing and got out of the inning. The guys played great defense behind him and he pitched a great game. It was an outstanding first start and hopefully he can continue to build off it.”
Pacheco went 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with two walks and one strikeout. Bobby Alcock came in and earned the save, pitching 2/3 of an inning and allowing one hit with one strikeout.
On the offensive side, Kyle Ouellette went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Jared Coppola went 2-for-3 with one RBI, while Colin Reddy went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
“Kyle has been doing a great job of using the entire field at the plate, and that’s part of the reason why he came up with two big hits for us,” said Dana. “The idea for us has been just keep the inning going for the next guy, and even though we left some runs on the table we were able to do that enough to get the win.”
The Spartans jumped on the board quickly after Pacheco pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first. Reddy led with a walk and stole second base to set up Ouellette, who laced a RBI single into center field to put St. Mary’s up 1-0. The Spartans did get runners to first and second with one out, but a double play ended the scoring chance.
St. Mary’s added to its lead in the bottom of the third, once again thanks to the top part of the lineup. Reddy notched a one-out single and stole second base, then he advanced to third on a passed ball. That was enough for Ouellette, who once again came through with a RBI single — this time to right field — to make it 2-0 Spartans. After John Mulready was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, Coppola knocked a RBI single to center field to give St. Mary’s a 3-0 lead.
From there, it was all Pacheco. Despite not getting a strikeout until the final out of the sixth inning, Pacheco moved through the Spellman order by pitching to contact and letting his defense do the work.
But in the top of the seventh, the Cardinals finally broke through. After Pacheco retired the first batter of the inning, Collin Tracey stepped in and launched a double to break up the no-hitter. Matt Cahill stepped in next and notched a RBI single to make it 3-1 St. Mary’s and end Pacheco’s day on the mound. Alcock came in and got the final two outs to earn the save and give the Spartans the victory.
The win makes it two wins in as many days for St. Mary’s (5-2, 3-0 CCL). The Spartans will try to continue their winning streak Monday (3:30) with a road game against CCL foe Archbishop Williams.
“They had a big win, they’ve been playing well lately and they always play us tough,” Dana said of Williams. “So we’re going to head down to Braintree and bring our best game and hopefully come out on the right side.”
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SATURDAY
St. Mary’s 9, Arlington Catholic 2
Freshman Aiven Cabral tossed five innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. Jared Coppola threw two scoreless innings in relief.
John Mulready went 1-for-2 and drove in three runs. Cabral, Coppola, Colin Reddy, Kyle Ouellette, Kory Ouellette and Conor Donohue each drove in a run.
