by Vinny Messana
It was a St. Dominic’s homecoming of sorts at Gregg Alfano Field tonight as St. Joseph’s defeated Mount St. Mary’s 6-1 to advance to the second round of the Skyline Conference playoffs.
The Golden Eagles first baseman, Brendan Sullivan, smacked four hits in five at bats–including an RBI hit to break the game open at 5-1 in the eighth inning–which was more than enough offensive support for their starting pitcher Brandon Lubrano.
It was a smooth 6-1 victory for the Golden Eagles (Photo Credit: Vinny Messana)
Both are graduates of St. Dominic’s HS who played for–you guessed it–Richard Garrett, who is now the skipper for the Golden Eagles.
“I’ve been relying on this guy for eight years now,” said Garrett in regards to Sullivan. “Nothing surprises me with him anymore. He’s been battling all year, but when it’s big time, it’s Brendan’s time,” he said laughing.
Lubrano, who actually played for Mount St. Mary’s last season, defeated his former team for the second time this season. He battled through self-proclaimed command issues in the first inning to get through seven innings, striking out six, allowing five hits and two walks on just one run.
“I was anxious and a little nervous,” said the southpaw who lowered his team-leading ERA to 2.66 on the season.”I loved the guys (his former teammates) and I love the coach as a father.
Now we have three other horses to ride,” he added.
After allowing a first inning RBI double to Kristopher Fragomeni he shut them out for the next six innings.
The only test was in the seventh inning when he worked out of a bases loaded jam when he got Blake Keenan to fly out to right field to end the threat.
The Golden Eagles’ offense got going in the first inning on an RBI single by Joe Calabrese to score Anthony Bonilla. They went silent for the next three innings but took the lead in the fifth on an error which scored Sullivan, who led off with a single.
They added a run in the sixth on an aggressive base running play by Ryan Walsh who scored from second on a sac bunt by James Nakashian. They also scored in the seventh on a run-scoring single by freshman Dan Campanelli.
In the eighth inning, Sullivan recorded his 100th career hit which drove in Nakashian–who led the inning off with a well-struck double down the left field line.
“We had to have this win. As a captain, I wanted to put the team on my back,” said Sullivan. “But we have 35 other guys to do it,” he added.
The Golden Eagles smacked 14 hits. Campanelli had three, Nick Girardi and Calabrese had two as well.
With the victory, they advance to face Farmingdale State on Saturday at 10am. With a win, they would advance to the Skyline Conference championship.
