LYNN — The St. Mary’s and St. John’s Prep baseball teams battled back and forth under the lights at Fraser Field Monday night, with the Eagles taking a big lead early before the Spartans crawled back in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
But in the end, it was St. John’s Prep that was able to land the final blow in a 10-9 win in nine innings. Victor Harrington came through with the eventual game-winning hit for the Eagles, notching an RBI single in the top of the ninth.
Aidan Driscoll went 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI to lead the offensive attack for the Prep, while Harrington (1-for-5), Payton Palladino (3-for-5, double), Caleb Birchem (3-for-5) each had two RBI. Nick Solitro went 2-for-4 with one RBI, while Cam LaGrassa went 2-for-5 and Kyle Webster went 1-for-5 with a double.
Connor Remley earned the win on the mound after tossing three innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts. Joe Williams got the start and went the first five innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four strikeouts, while Kyle Webster struck out two in one inning of relief.
Ryan Fraher went 1-for-2 with a triple and three RBI in the loss for St. Mary’s, while John Nowicki went 3-for-5 with three RBI. Tad Giardina (1-for-3), Jason Donohue (1-for-3) and Cam McGonagle (0-for-3) each had one RBI. Tommy Falasca went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Josh Doney took the loss for the Spartans after pitching 2 2/3 innings of relief and allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts. Eric Bridges got the start and went 6 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts.
The Spartans didn’t waste much time getting on the board, pushing across three runs in the bottom of the first. Two walks and a single loaded the bases before an error brought home the first run, then Giardina notched an RBI single and McGonagle hit an RBI sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 game.
But the Eagles were not to be outdone. Solitro and Shane Williams hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before Palladino launched an RBI double to get Prep on the board. Birchem followed that with an RBI single of his own, then a run scored on an error before Driscoll pushed the Eagles ahead with a two-run triple to make it 5-3 Prep.
Nowicki slapped an RBI single to get a run back for the Spartans in the bottom of the third, but then both offenses fell silent over the next few innings.
But things picked up again for the Prep in the top of the seventh, when the Eagles were able to add four insurance runs to cushion their lead.
It started with a single and an error to get two runners on base, then Driscoll came through once again with an RBI single to make it 6-4. Webster followed that up with a double, then Solitro stepped up and knocked him home with an RBI single of his own. Palladino and Birchem each added an RBI single as well, stretching the lead to 9-4.
The Spartans continued to fight until the end, however, putting together a rally in the bottom of the seventh to get right back in the game.
A walk and a single got the inning started off on the right foot for the Spartans, then Nowicki stepped in and ripped an RBI single to make it a 9-5 game. Donohue was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home another run, which set the stage for Fraher to make a difference.
He did just that, smashing a bases-clearing, three-run triple to tie the game up at 9-9 and send the game to extra innings.
After the eighth inning went by without incident, St. John’s Prep was once again able to take the lead in the top of the ninth. Solitro drew a walk and Palladino singled, putting a runner in scoring position for Harrington — who came through with the clutch RBI single to make it a 10-9 game.
The Prep pitching took over from there, as Remley worked his way through the bottom of the ninth to seal the win for the Eagles.
St. Mary’s (10-9) will play against Lynn Classical in the opening round of the Doug Mullins Memorial Tournament Friday (4).
St. John’s Prep (10-7) travels to Lawrence Wednesday (4).
