Giancarlo Giacometti fires 6.1 innings today against Kellenberg in a 6-1 victory for St. John the Baptist. He’s our @BsbLifestyle101 Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/sRz2Bffj67
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 9, 2019
With several MLB scouts lined up behind home plate, Giancarlo Giacometti shined the brightest on a dreary day in East Meadow on Opening Day for St. John the Baptist. The crafty right-handed pitcher was unflappable, as he fired 6.1 strong innings in a 6-1 win for the Cougars over Kellenberg.
He noted that he was excited for today and had it marked on his calendar facing Miami-commit Jason Diaz. “‘Especially being Opening Day, I just wanted to get the win,” said the right-hander.
After going down 1-2-3 in the first, they had a huge second inning.
Freshman stud Kyle Chase started it off with a well-struck single to left. A walk to Matt Lasala, hit by pitch of Nick Russo and a walk to Aidan Forde brought in their first run. They added a second on an error, a third by a walk to Matt Milone, RBI single by E.J. Exposito and two-run single by Chase to make it 6-0.
That was it for Diaz, who gave way to senior John Carroll. The southpaw did a terrific job of holding the fort, but the damage was already done.
The Firebirds did threaten a couple time, notably in the bottom of the fourth when they loaded the bases on a single by Joe Braskey, an error and a hit by pitch of Kyle Sharkey but a ground out to second base ended the jam.
They also loaded the bases in the fifth inning on singles by Kristian Rafsol, Luke Napolitano and Braskey but a flyout to center and a strikeout of Andrew Cascio ended the inning unscathed for Giacometti.
After a quiet sixth, they were able to push across a run in the seventh on a sac fly but it was too little, too late.
The teams will be back in action tomorrow, with the projected pitching match up to be St. Thomas Aquinas-commit Vincent McDermott against freshman Kyle Chase as SJB continues their title defense.
