Nick Lucchese is our @DigmiNation Player of the Game he was also named Most Outstanding Player of the ECC Tournament. The Spartans are looking to return to the Div-II College World Series pic.twitter.com/45GjP1pRhK
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 12, 2018
One of the hallmarks of St. Thomas Aquinas baseball over the past five seasons is that they are calm, cool and collected in big moments.
It came as no surprise that even with Molloy getting the tying-run to third base and the potential go-ahead run on first base in the ninth inning of the ECC Championship that relief pitcher Chris Pennell would make a quality pitch and induce a soft fly out to left field to seal the 3-2 victory for the Spartans and the 2018 ECC Championship.
“I’m enjoying the moment,” said tournament MVP and Digmi Player of the Game Nick Lucchese, as he got doused with ice water by his teammates. “Going to the World Series as a freshman was amazing–this is just the first step. We’re hoping to win Regionals and get back to the National Championship,” he added.
The ballgame was pushed back due to a storm in the area, but that passed quickly and the game was unaffected by the weather for the rest of the afternoon. Molloy got on the board first in the top of the second on an RBI single by Jacob McCarthy to right field, they added a run when Bobby Morse’s attempt at a 3-6 force out sailed wide into left field and allowed the Lions’ second run to score.
In typical Spartans fashion, they clamped down the rest of the way. Starting pitcher Tyler Patane (Sachem North 2015), fresh off being named ECC All-Conference, settled into a rhythm after that. The only inning that he got into any trouble was the fifth when he walked and hit a batter but stranded both runners.
Molloy RHP Anthony Catinella had struggled through the season but put together his second-best start of the year. He worked in-and-out of jams and was working on a shutout into the fifth until he ran into big trouble.
After he retired the leadoff batter, he hit Anthony Maisano with a pitch. Kyle LaGrutta (St. Anthony’s 2017) reached on an infield single to third base. Juan Adorno came up next and was hit with the pitch to load the bases for Lucchese (North Shore 2016). He ripped an RBI single to left to get the Spartans on the board. The following batter, Joey Pena, drew a walk on a borderline 3-2 pitch to bring in a run. Giovanni Dingcong chopped a grounder to shortstop that resulted in an RBI fielder’s choice for the Spartans’ third and final run of the game.
Patane got through the sixth inning with the lead and got a 1-2-3 seventh inning. It was a tremendous job to fire five shutout innings after Molloy had gotten on the scoreboard.
Reliever Chris Pennell came in and looked like it was any regular season game. He allowed just a single to Elijah Leerdam in the eighth and a single to Michael Wall and a walk in the ninth. He recorded his third save of the season.
The Spartans improved their overall record to 36-13, five of those victories coming against Molloy. They captured their fourth ECC Championship and first since 2015. They advance to their sixth consecutive regional.
