NORTH ANDOVER — The No. 6 St. Mary’s baseball team pushed across six runs in the top of the fourth inning and rode that all the way to victory Friday afternoon, knocking off No. 2 North Andover 6-1 in a battle of defending state champions in a Division 2 North semifinal game.
In what has become a regular occurrence this season, Spartans pitcher Aiven Cabral was stellar on the mound. The junior righty went the distance, allowing one run on five hits with 10 strikeouts. After giving up a run in the first inning, Cabral only scattered three hits across the final six innings.
“Aiven gives you a chance to win every single day,” said St. Mary’s Coach Derek Dana. “He’s done it for us all year. He pounds the strike zone, he never backs down and he gets the job done. We knew that (North Andover) was an outstanding team and he held them to just one run, and that’s what we needed out of him.”
Dante D’Ambrosio led the offensive attack for the Spartans, going 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Cabral went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Zach Fisher (1-for-3), Lucas Fritz (1-for-3) and Tad Giardina (0-for-3) each had an RBI. Terence Moynihan (1-for-3) also added a hit.
“All year with this offense, we get what we can get and just try to keep the inning moving,” said Dana. “In the last few batting practices, we’ve been focusing on staying behind the ball and taking it the other way, and guys did that today.”
The Spartans also benefited from some great defensive plays in the game, as D’Ambrosio threw out a runner from left field in the second inning, catcher Colby Magliozzi executed a perfect strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play in the bottom of the fourth and Ryan Fraher made a diving catch down the line to end a rally in the bottom of the fifth.
“We don’t blow teams out, we win games 2-1, 3-1, 1-0,” said Dana. “We work very hard on defense and the guys stepped up all over the field. Every play is huge in a game like this. It could be in the first inning, the second inning or the seventh inning, but those plays all matter.”
North Andover struck the first blow in this one, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI single from Trevor Crosby.
The Spartans had trouble getting anything going in the first few innings, but things changed in the top of the fourth. Andrew Luciano led things off with a walk before stealing second base, then Cabral stepped up and laced an RBI double to tie things up at 1-1. After a single, a stolen base and a walk loaded up the bases with no outs, Fisher and Fritz gave the Spartans the lead with back-to-back RBI singles. Giardina then added an RBI groundout before D’Ambrosio smashed a two-run double and put the Spartans’ lead at 6-1.
That was all that Cabral needed. The junior ace breezed through the next two innings, only running into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the seventh when North Andover loaded the bases with one out. But Cabral didn’t waver, forcing a groundout and a strikeout to seal the win and punch the Spartans’ ticket to the next round.
St. Mary’s (18-6) now moves on to the Division 2 North Final, where the Spartans will host No. 8 Masconomet Monday (7) at Fraser Field.
