LYNN— Pitching, defense and timely hitting.
All three phases worked in St. Mary’s favor in Friday’s 7-1 win over North Reading in the opening round of the Nipper Clancy Tournament at Fraser Field.
Spartans ace Bobby Alcock went all seven innings. Alcock allowed an unearned run on six hits, walked four and struck out four. When Alcock ran into trouble, his defense bailed him out with big plays. A crucial 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the sixth squashed a North Reading threat when the Spartans held a 4-1 lead.
“That’s the way our defense has been playing all year,” St. Mary’s coach Derek Dana said. “The last two games, our defense had a couple hiccups. We’re not used to seeing that so I’m glad we straightened some things out, kept our focus, kept playing and finished the game.”
St. Mary’s pushed the lead to 7-1 with a 3-run rally in the seventh.
Jared Coppola (3-for-3, RBI, walk) carried St. Mary’s offense.
“Jared’s having an outstanding senior year,” Dana said. “He’s playing as well as anybody I’ve seen all year and we’ve played some pretty good teams. I’ll take that kid every time. Third base, shortstop, on the mound, hitting. He’s been a great leader. He’s done a fantastic job for us.”
Lee Pacheco (2-for-3, two RBI), Colin Reddy (1-for-2, RBI, two sac-bunts) and John Mulready (2-for-3, RBI, walk) also produced with key hits.
North Reading plated the game’s first run in the bottom of the second when Matt Solecki came home on an errant Spartans throw. Coppola tied it at 1-1 with a RBI single in the top of the third.
St. Mary’s struck for two runs in the top of the fifth. Richard Pagliuca singled to lead the inning and Coppola drew an intentional walk with two outs. Mulready’s single loaded the bases for Pacheco, who delivered with a crucial 2-RBI single to give St. Mary’s a 3-1 lead.
“That was a big at-bat,” Dana said. “Lee came through. That’s what we’re expecting from Lee. We saw that (Friday).”
Colin Reddy plated Aiven Cabral (1-for-3, RBI, run) with a RBI single on a perfectly-executed hit-and-run in the sixth, pushing the lead to 4-1.
The Spartans put things out of reach in the top of the seventh. Coppola laced a triple to left-center to start the rally. Pinch-runner Andrew Luciano scored on Mulready’s RBI single. Austin Foglietta’s RBI single and Cabral’s RBI triple padded St. Mary’s lead to 7-1.
“They added those insurance runs in the seventh and that hurt us,” North Reading coach Eric Archambault said. “They’re a good-hitting team. We faced their 3-4-5 hitters and they hit the ball well. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to good hitting.”
Alcock worked around a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.
St. Mary’s (12-5) shifts its attention to Saturday’s (12:30) tournament championship game.
“It’s going to be a tough game, no matter what” Dana said. “It’s all-city, Lynn kids. They all know each other. (English) coach (Doug) Mullins and (Classical) coach (Mike) Zukowski both do a great job. Both have had very good seasons. It’ll be a challenge.”
The Hornets will play in the consolation (10). North Reading (9-8) needs a win to qualify for the Division 3 North state tournament.
“We didn’t play a terrible game but we didn’t execute and we didn’t come up with timely hits when we needed them,” Archambault said. “We’ll come back Saturday, try to clinch states and get ourselves a win.”
