Baseball: St. Paul’s hands Brother Martin first loss, 9-5

Coming off of a season in which they reached the Division I championship game, expectations are very high for a seasoned, experienced, talented St. Paul’s Wolves squad in 2019.

Those expectations were on full display Monday at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.

The Wolves jumped out to an early lead and then broke a tie with a strong finish in a 9-5 victory over St. Paul’s.

St. Paul’s scored a single run in the top of the first inning and added two more in the second to make it 3-0. The Crusaders got two runs in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2 but the Wolves got the two runs back in the top of the fourth and it was 5-2.

Brother Martin fought back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth to tie the game 5-5 before St. Paul’s scored a pair of runs in the sixth to take a 7-5 lead on a sacrifice fly by Scherer and an RBI double by sophomore Mathew Russo doubled home a run. St. Paul’s finished it off with two runs in the top of the seventh inning on an RBI double by sophomore Hunter Corass before he scored on an error.

Corass stole the show for the Wolves. Corass had three hits and drove in two runs and pitched two and a third scoreless innings in relief of senior Jacob Scherer to pick up the win. Corass allowed three hits and struck out two. Brandon Bonura took the loss for the Crusaders in relief of Jacob Cohen.

Senior Nick Vitale added two hits and an RBI for the Wolves (4-3) while Russo and senior Kyle McLaughlin each had a hit and an RBI.

Tre Morgan had three hits, including a solo home run and a double to pace the Brother Martin attack. Joe Delaney had a hit and two RBI while Blake Bufkin and Tyler Johnson each had a hit and an RBI for the Crusaders (7-1). Cole Stromboe, Ethan Moser and Blaine Starring each had two hits.

St. Paul’s returns to action Friday against at 4 p.m. in a tournament at Noel Suarez Stadium in Chalmette while Brother Martin opens play in the Jay Patterson Tournament at Gonzales against Destrehan Thursday at 4 p.m. at St. Amant.

Final

St. Paul’s   120 202 2    9   8   1, 7 LOB

Brother Martin   002 210 0   5  12   3, 8 LOB

WP—Jacob Scherer

LP—Brandon Bonura

St. Paul’s

Batting

2B: K Mclaughlin, N Vitale, M Russo, H Corass 2
TB: K Mclaughlin 2, N Vitale 3, M Russo 2, S Heap, H Corass 5
RBI: K Mclaughlin, N Vitale, J Scherer, M Russo, O Hnatyshun, H Corass 2
ROE: S Heap, K Conigliaro
FC: B Neelis
HBP: K Mclaughlin, O Hnatyshun, B Neelis
SB: B Neelis, S Heap, H Corass, K Conigliaro, P Kilgore
Team QAB: 16 (43.24%)
K Mclaughlin 2, N Vitale 3, J Scherer, M Russo 3, O Hnatyshun, B Neelis, H Corass 4, K Conigliaro
Team LOB: 7Fielding

E: K Conigliaro

Brother Martin

Batting

2B: John Morgan, Tyler Johnson
HR: John Morgan
TB: Blake Bufkin, Joe Delaney, John Morgan 7, Ethan Moser 2, Blaine Starring 2, Cole Stromboe 2, Tyler Johnson 2
RBI: Blake Bufkin, Joe Delaney 2, John Morgan, Tyler Johnson
CI: Blaine Starring
SB: Joe Delaney, Cole Stromboe
CS: Joe Delaney, Blaine Starring
PIK: John Morgan, Ethan Moser
Team QAB: 21 (61.76%)
Blake Bufkin 2, Joe Delaney 2, Jake Dickinson, Brady Faust 4, B Gauthier, John Morgan 3, Ethan Moser, Blaine Starring 3, Cole Stromboe, Brennan Stuprich, Tyler Johnson 2

Team LOB: 8

E: Jacob Cohen, Ethan Moser, Brennan Stuprich

St. Pauls

Pitching

WP: H Corass
Pitches-Strikes: J Scherer 95-51, H Corass 41-20
Groundouts-Flyouts: J Scherer 4-3, H Corass 4-0
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: J Scherer 9-23, H Corass 4-11

Brother Martin

Pitching

HBP: Jacob Cohen 2, Mayson Keene
Pitches-Strikes: Brandon Bonura 34-20, Jacob Cohen 73-48, Mayson Keene 14-9
Groundouts-Flyouts: Brandon Bonura 1-2, Jacob Cohen 2-5, Mayson Keene 0-1
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Brandon Bonura 7-10, Jacob Cohen 14-22, Mayson Keene 2-5