LYNN — Any thoughts that the St. Mary’s baseball team may get off to a sluggish start following last week’s trip down to Myrtle Beach were quickly erased Monday afternoon, as the Spartans dominated on both sides of the field to earn a 10-0 win over Cardinal Spellman in five innings at Fraser Field.
It was a stellar, albeit short, performance for senior ace Aiven Cabral, who earned the win on the mound after pitching three scoreless, no-hit innings in which he struck out each of the nine batters he faced. Josh Doney came on to pitch the final two innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out two.
The offensive side of things was just as impressive for St. Mary’s, as John Nowicki led the Spartans by going 1-for-3 with a triple and three RBI. Zach Fisher (1-for-2) and Aiven Cabral (1-for-2, double) each had two RBI in the win, while Tad Giardina went 1-for-2 with a double and one RBI. Cam McGonagle, Chris Champa and Justin Jennings each had one hit in the winning effort.
The Spartans did what they do best early in this game — taking advantage of an opportunity to push some runs across in the bottom of the first. After staying patient and drawing three straight walks to load the bases, Nowicki stepped in and laced a bases-clearing triple to give St. Mary’s the early 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Giardina knocked Nowicki home with an RBI double.
After Cabral struck out the side for the second straight inning, he helped his own cause in the bottom of the second when he knocked an RBI double to score Jack Marks and make it 5-0.
A single and two walks loaded up the bases once again for the Spartans in the bottom of the third, and this time it was Fisher who came through with the big hit by hitting a two-run single back up the middle to push the lead to 7-0.
The bottom of the fourth was the only inning in which the Spartans didn’t generate a run, but they quickly made up for that in the bottom of the fifth. A pair of singles and an error once again loaded the bases, and this time Cabral launched a deep RBI sacrifice fly to center field to push another run across. Next up was Nowicki, who ripped a hard grounder to shortstop that was subsequently thrown away — allowing two runners to come home and end the game via the 10-run rule.
St. Mary’s (6-3) hosts Archbishop Williams Friday night (7) under the lights at Fraser Field.
