The St. Francis baseball defeated visiting St. Ignatius, 6-1 Tuesday afternoon to remain the West Catholic Athletic League favorite.
In a game that was much more competitive than the score makes it appear, the Lancers (12-0, 4-0) outhit the Wildcats (7-3, 0-3) 11-6, with the most important difference being the Lancers had six hits with runners and in scoring position while the Wildcats had two.
“We had a good approach today. We did a nice job offensively,” St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said. “They made us work for every bit of it.”
The Lancers, who are currently ranked sixth in the nation in Maxprep’s Xcellent 25 poll, used a four-run fourth inning to take a 5-0 lead.
Right fielder Hunter Simmons started things off with a walk. Then left fielder Austin Guibor laid down a bunt and got on base. First baseman Mark Cardinelli walked, and shortstop Chris Baker drove in both Simmons and Guibor on a hard grounder towards third base.
After two outs, center fielder Kort Peterson knocked in Cardinelli, and pitcher Michael Strem batted in Baker.
“We were taking fastballs early and making the pitcher work, and getting our pitch to hit,” said Strem.
The Wildcats could not get their offense going. Their best hitters, center fielder Jack Klein and designated hitter Matt Krook, went a combined 3-for-7, with Krook knocking in his team’s only run.
“We ended up with six hits,” said St. Ignatius coach Matthew Stecher. “We’re definitely not producing like we’re used to, and I’d like to see us bring across some more runs.”
Despite the five-run differential, Oakland summed up the Lancer defense in one word: “Terrible. We probably cost our pitcher 15 extra pitches, and we helped roll their lineup over multiple times, and they shouldn’t have even been in that position. If we don’t get better defensively, it’s going to be tough.”
St. Francis had three errors on the scorecard from three different infielders, and all of the errors came on balls overthrown to first base that resulted in the baserunner advancing.
However, there were other miscues that were not recorded by official scorekeeper.
“There are things that don’t even show up, like not turning a double play that should be turned, throwing the ball away at first base three times that allowed the runner to go to second base and get out of a double play situation," Oakland said. "We made some good plays in the field, but at the same time we need to take care of the baseball on the interior so that we don’t allow them to roll the lineup over.”
The redeeming part of St. Francis’ defense was its pitching. Strem went all seven innings, and threw 101 pitches, just over his 70-100 pitch count target.
“I felt good. I thought I pitched well, stayed in the zone and only had a couple balls,” said Strem.
The Boston College-bound senior allowed six hits and walked just two batters, while striking out four.
The pitching situation for the Wildcats was not so stable.
“It was a very competitive game. We didn’t have everything we wanted on the mound today, but Saint Francis has a great lineup," Stecher said.
Jack Schoenberger started, and lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and three runs. Hunter Noah relieved and turned in 1 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and three more runs. Jonathan Hernandez pitched the sixth inning, allowing one hit.
The Lancers will need to shore up their defensive problems if they want to stay near the top of the national rankings. St. Ignatius needs to produce at the plate, and get more consistency out of its bullpen.
There was a scary moment on the final out of the game, when Peterson called for the fly ball in deep center field. Guibor did not hear him, and they ran into each other in a collision that could be heard all the way in the stands behind home plate. Both players were OK and were able to walk off the field under their own power.
Despite the Lancers' defensive troubles, they were able to take sole possession of first place in the WCAL when Archbishop Mitty defeated previously co-first place Serra 2-1.
