TYSONS, Va. — The Catholic baseball team wrapped up the weekend with a Sunday road trip to take on Marymount (Va.) looking to finish the weekend with a 3-0 record. The Saints jumped on the Cardinals early to take a 5-2 lead and the bullpen held things down in the late innings to hand the Cardinals their third loss of the season, 5-4.
The Saints offense was effective in the early innings, scoring in each of the first four off
Mac Meara for the Cardinals. They got the first two runners on in the bottom of the first and Jack McCarthy cashed in with two outs with a two RBI base hit into right field to give Marymount a 2-0 lead. McCarthy added another RBI knock two innings later and a sac fly from Bobby Leitzel in the bottom of the fourth brought across the fifth run for the Saints.
Catholic put up a crooked number in the top of the second inning to crack the scoreboard for the first time.
Logan Eilbacher started off the rally with a base hit, followed by a
Steve Thomas double to left field to bring Eilbacher home. A couple batters later,
Matthew Fisher grounded out to second base to bring in Thomas from third base to make it a 3-2 game.
The Cardinals pulled within a run in the top of the fifth inning after
Zach Burton was hit by a pitch to put a runner on first base with two outs for
Mitchel Johnson. On a first pitch breaking ball, Johnson hammered it to deep left field over the wall to make it a 5-4 game.
Catholic had a chance to break through in the top of the seventh when it loaded the bases with two outs for
Jesse Lacefield. The Saints induced a groundout to second base on a 1-2 pitch to retire the side and escape the jam.
The Cardinals were unable to create any more scoring threats in the last two innings and the Saints went on to win 5-4 for their eighth win of the season while Catholic fell to 3-3.
Inside the Box Score
- Five different Cardinals hitters finished the game with multiple hits, however Catholic went just 1-for-8 with runners on base against the Saints relievers.
- Xander Douglas and Camden Mounts combined for four shutout innings out of the bullpen only surrendering two hits and striking out a combined five hitters.
- Johnson's home run was his second of the season, joining Eilbacher as the two players with multiple homers in the first two weeks of the season. Johnson currently leads the team with seven runs driven in on the season.
The Cardinals return to action for a doubleheader with Coast Guard on Saturday, March 8. First pitch for game one is slated for 12 pm at the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
