Photo curtsey of ossports Sheila Jones
Expectancy is on the horizon for the young Lions of St. John XXIII, who witnessed growing up can be fun. The Lions field one senior on its roster among several underclassmen.
Despite its youth, on Tuesday evening the Lions showed its mature side when it defeated St. Pius X, 8-1 at Mark Massey Stadium located on the St. Pius X Campus.
Junior first baseman Christopher Scott supplied the Lions with the winning runs after accounting for two RBI’s in two of the first three innings of play.
Center fielder Kyle Guidry reached first base with an infield single, moved to second on a groundout and advanced to third base on an E-5. That same error allowed catcher Destin Ruiz to reach first.
After, DH Eric Hurks took a pitch to his back to load the bases. That set up the first run of the game. Scott walked to first base on four balls, forcing Guidry to cross home plate. But with one out, the Panthers got out of the inning with a Taylor made double-play.
Freshman third baseman Danny Lazada lined a scorcher to third base where third baseman Tregan Hyder made a great play on the ball, firing to home plate for the second out. Catcher Enrique Trejo threw on to first to record the force out.
In the bottom half of the first inning, shortstop Xavier Jacobs drew a walk to put things in motion for St. Puis X. It quickly dissipated when freshman pitcher Jack Wilhelm recorded three consecutive outs to get the Lions out of the inning.
Ruiz led off the top of the third with a double. One out later, first baseman Chris Scott slapped a run-scoring double past first base. Third baseman Danny Lazada would drive in another run after drilling a double in the gap to right center. That increased the Lions lead, 3-0.
In the bottom of the third, the Panthers first two batters reached base before center fielder Brandon Davenport fielders choice scored Enrique Trejo to avoid the shutout. The Panthers trailed 3-1.
But most of the evening, St. Plus X struggled throughout the game. Austin Hunter had a rough outing on the mound, hitting four batters, walking three and surrendering six hits through five innings of work.
St. John XXIII continued its attack, over the next four innings, the Lions scored four unearned runs. With Scott held at third base, Juan Leal struck out on a wild pitch but beat the throw to first. In the same mix of excitement, Scott raced to home plate when the catcher threw to first base. The Lions lead continued to swell. Now up, 5-1.
Any idea of a comeback rested in the top of the seventh. Despite giving up a single and a throwing error charged to third baseman’s Hyder, which allowed the second base runner of the inning, the Panthers nearly got out of the inning. Joseph Winland flew out to center. Second baseman Luke McMahon followed by striking out. But disaster struck when Panther’s right fielder dropped a pop fly, which allowed three runs to score. That all but iced the game.
