Led by the scorching-hot bat of junior Lou Doria, the St. Joseph’s Golden Eagles took the Skyline Conference tournament game by storm as they posted a commanding 18-4 victory against Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday. Everything was going right for the Golden Eagles as they put up 22 hits offensively and their pitching was efficient. They will move on to play Maritime at 11 am on Sunday morning.
The Golden Eagles took control of this one early as they put 11 runs in the first two innings batting through the lineup twice. They sent ten hitters to the plate as they scored six runs in the first inning due to consecutive hits through the middle of the order. The big story, however, was Doria. This kid just flat out rakes. He smacked a pair of two-run homers in his first two at-bats in the first two innings of the ball game. Not only that, but these homers were not necessarily chip shots either.
“I think Lou is just seeing the ball well,” Coach Rick Garrett said about the lefty power hitter. “He’s going up there with an approach that he’s going to drive his pitch.”
St. Joe’s saw multiple guys have multi-hit games including Paul Britt, Dylan Piscitelli, Dan Campanelli, Tyler Sanderson, and Tyler Crafa. Matt Burnett also contributed with a hit and a pair of RBI. They started substituting the starters out in around the sixth inning given that they were ahead by 13 runs at the time. Mike Ferrufino had a hit with two RBI, Sean Balsam had an RBI hit, and Andrew Libertelli found himself with a hit as well.
Another major story line was Anthony Bonilla. On top of him recording four hits with four RBI and a pair of runs scored, he also broke the St. Joe’s program record for career hits with his RBI double in the eighth. He was the last starter to get pulled so he would get his opportunities to make his mark. Mike Reda pinch ran for him as soon as he reached base as the entire team hopped outside of the dugout to congratulate their star leadoff hitter.
The pitching for St. Joe’s was more than suitable. Brandon Lubrano continues to prove his dominance as he went 5.1 innings without allowing a run on five hits with five strikeouts. A scary moment in the game occurred shortly after Lubrano exited the game. Matt Hess came in relief and was immediately struck by a line drive comebacker around his ankle where he had to be carried off the field while also wearing a boot. Hopefully he turns out alright and the injury is not serious. Justin Fitzpatrick and Adam Brisman were lights out in relief as they went a combined 2.2 innings without allowing a hit. Luke Brown struggled a bit in the ninth as he gave up three runs on three hits, but the damage done was not nearly enough to unseat the Golden Eagles as victors.
St. Joe’s will look to continue on their path to defending their crown.
