Xaverian edges St. John’s Prep 2-1, leads Catholic Conference baseball standings

WESTWOOD — The Catholic Conference standings indicated that very little separated the Xaverian and St. John’s Prep baseball teams entering Monday’s clash for first place, and the action on the diamond confirmed it.

Senior right-hander Ryan Douglas spun a complete-game gem and the Hawks took advantage of a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes from the Eagles for a pair of unearned runs in a 2-1 victory that gave Xaverian sole possession of the top spot in the CC at 7-1 with two conference contests remaining.

“Lather, rinse, repeat — the Catholic Conference. One-run games and grind games and at-bat after at-bat where the game hangs in the balance,” said Xaverian coach Gerry Lambert. “I thought Ryan did a great job. They threatened all game, just about every inning. They are going to come after you for 21 outs.”

Douglas allowed six hits on the day, striking out eight without a walk, although he did hit a batter. His only run allowed was unearned, coming in the third when Matt Mitchell doubled and aggressively bolted for third on a long throw from the hole on a grounder to short, and then dashed home when the Hawks threw away the attempt to cut him down across the diamond.

“I felt great, just trying to hit corners and (catcher Matt Brinker) called a great game for me,” said Douglas, who will play for Stonehill next season. “We knew it was the biggest game of the year so far, first place on the line. We hung in there, executed, and got the win.”

The Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead without a hit in the first against Prep starter Sam Belliveau, who was also sharp in going the distance. Leadoff man Henry Fleckner reached on an error, advanced to third on a passed ball and a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Brinker, who would later throw out a pair of enemy runners attempting steals.

“Matty is a great player, and I thought we did a good job when we got the guy on second — get him over, get him in,” said Lambert. “That’s what you have to do against the Prep. We are not going to string together five hits on a day like today.”

After Mitchell’s play tied the game 1-1, Xaverian grabbed the lead back in the fourth. Brinker was hit by a pitch, Douglas singled and they were sacrificed over. Belliveau looked like he might escape, getting a strikeout and a chopper to short, but an in-between hop was mishandled and the decisive run trotted home.

Xaverian, which has a non-league tilt with Norwood on Tuesday, can clinch at least a share of the CC crown on Thursday against Catholic Memorial, the lone team to beat the Hawks this year,

“We are looking forward to the rest of the season,” said Douglas. “We are rolling right now. We’ll see what happens, but I think if we play our game we’ll be fine.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SF8EZQ