Nick DelVecchio went 4-for-4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored out of the leadoff spot for Holy Trinity in the 5-3 win over Kellenberg @GCsports pic.twitter.com/0Lpb3v7ZAx
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 26, 2023
Coming off yesterday’s 2-1 loss at the hands of Wake Forest-commit Andrew Koshy, Holy Trinity knew they needed to do some home cooking as they look to play for a bye in the NSCHSAA postseason. The Titans wasted zero time, putting up two runs in the first inning which was already more than they were able to compile in the previous game. They did not look, and they were able to capture the critical 5-3 win against first place Kellenberg to split the series.
Kellenberg sent junior Matt Reiter to the mound against Holy Trinity’s Gabe Klaritkaitis. After a scoreless top half of the first inning, Holy Trinity was able to make Reiter work. Nicholas DelVecchio, their leadoff batter and SS, notched his first of four hits in the game. After Tyler Cook was hit by a pitch, Sebastian Velasquez drew a walk to load the bases for 1B Kyle Kozlowski. The big slugger ripped a two-run single to give Holy Trinity a quick 2-0 lead.
Bottom 1: Kyle Kozlowski hits a 2-R single and Holy Trinity has an early 2-0 lead pic.twitter.com/ULdYTuodgb
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 26, 2023
Reiter was able to escape further trouble, as he got a pop out to second base and a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Klarikaitis was very effective, although he did allow plenty of traffic on the bases. In the second inning, he allowed a leadoff walk to Brian Cadieux and a two-out walk to Hunter Harrison but he did notch two strikeouts in the inning to avoid any damage.
In the home half of the second, Holy Trinity got two base runners on a HBP of Sean Atkinson and another single by DelVecchio, but Reiter was able to strike out Tyler Cook looking to end the inning.
The Firebirds got on the board in the third inning when Kenny Noe led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Koshy struck out, Paul Napolitano hit an infield single to third base but the throw to first got away from Kozlowski allowing Noe to score to make it a 2-1 game. After Jimmy Ernst walked, Klarikaitis settled down and struck out Cadieux and James Coats to end the inning.
Kellenberg threatened to score again in the fourth when Michael D’Angelo led off with a single and was sacrificed to second base by Hunter Harrison. Tommy Pasqua flew out for the second out, but they were unable to capitalized as Kenny Noe flew out to right field to end the inning.
The Titans got the run back in the home half of the fourth when Sean Maddi led off and reached on an error and stole second base to get himself into scoring position. The next two batters were retired, but DelVecchio struck again with an RBI single and scored Maddi to make it a 3-1 ballgame. The following batter, Tyler Cook, hit a grounder that was misplayed and allowed both runners to reach safely. Sebastian Velasquez hit a hard grounder that was snagged by Kenny Noe but the throw got away allowing DelVecchio to score, but Cook was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Holy Trinity led 4-1 after this play.
They extended that to 5-1 in the fifth inning when Kyle Kozlowski led off with a walk and he stole second and stole with out out and Ryan Czyz was able to drive him in with a well-struck grounder to second that Tommy Pasqua made a great play on to prevent a hit but the run made it 5-1.
Tyler Cook came on in relief in the top of the sixth and he struggled with his command, allowing back-to-back-to-back walks with one out to load the bases. He was able to get a strikeout for the second out, and he really appeared to escape the inning when the next batter hit a routine to fly to center field that was simply dropped to allow two runs to score and suddenly it was 5-3. He was able to get a foul pop out to first base to end the inning to maintain the lead.
Mid 6: Kellenberg gets 2 runs gifted on a dropped routine fly ball to center with the bases loaded
Holy Trinity 5, Kellenberg 3 pic.twitter.com/l4kml8lF8Q
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 26, 2023
In the top of the seventh, he worked around consecutive two-out singles to Brian Cadieux and pinch hitter Michael Brocco but they ended the game on a pop out to Sebastian Velasquez at third base.
With the win, Holy Trinity improves to 8-5 on the season, while Kellenberg dropped to 8-3. The parity in the CHSAA is incredible this year as there’s a 3-way tie atop the standings with Kellenberg, St. Dom’s and St. Anthony’s with Holy Trinity 1 game behind and Chaminade sitting at 6-4.
