PEABODY — The St. Mary’s baseball team didn’t make it easy, but the Spartans used some late-inning magic to grind out a 2-1 win over Catholic Central League rival Bishop Fenwick on the road Monday afternoon.
With the victory, the Spartans have now won six straight games.
It was an impressive day on the mound for St. Mary’s freshman Eric Bridges, who tossed a complete game to earn the victory. Bridges only needed 77 pitches to get through the outing, allowing one unearned run on three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
The Spartans were only able to scatter three hits in the win, with two of them coming from the bat of Terence Moynihan — who turned out to make the deciding play of the game. Lucas Fritz also added a hit in the win.
Fenwick also got a strong pitching performance, with sophomore Anthony Marino going the distance and allowing two unearned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and two walks.
The Crusaders’ bats could also only muster three hits, with Scott Emerson going 2-for-3 and Alex Gonzalez going 1-for-3.
It was Fenwick that struck first in this one, taking advantage of a St. Mary’s mistake in the bottom of the first inning. After Emerson singled with one out and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice, Costa Beechin grounded into what should have been the inning-ending out. But a fielding error by the Spartans kept the play alive, and Emerson was able to race around and score to make it 1-0 Crusaders.
But St. Mary’s answered right back. Moynihan opened the inning with a single and then stole second base to get into scoring position. After Fritz singled to left field, Moynihan was able to come all the way around to score from second on a Fenwick error, tying the score at 1-1.
And there the score remained. Both Bridges and Marino settled into a real groove on the mound, although both teams threatened with a runner on third base in their respective halves of the third inning.
Finally, in the top of the seventh, St. Mary’s made a move. It was Moynihan providing the spark once again, leading off the inning with a double. Marino was able to get two outs after that, but then Jason Donohue stepped into the box and hit a line drive that knocked off the glove of the Fenwick first baseman and bounded into right field, allowing Moynihan to come around for the go-ahead run.
Bridges then took that momentum to the mound in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the side in order to seal the victory.
Fenwick (8-8) hosts Austin Prep Thursday (4).
St. Mary’s (12-5) has a quick turnaround with a home game against Matignon Tuesday afternoon (4).
