Monday, April 28, 2003
The Cardinals scored twice in the sixth inning for a 3-2 win.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney in any sport defines hard competition, and Thursday's night baseball game at Bob Cene Park, won 3-2 by the Cardinals, exemplified the rivalry.
The game had good pitching, outstanding defense and timely hitting, especially for Mooney, which scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overcome a 2-1 deficit.
"This was really a well-played and a well-pitched game and we were fortunate to get big hits at the right time," said Mooney coach Tom Flynn.
The Cardinals got on the board in the second inning when Dean Palombaro tripled and Brian Drummond singled.
Ursuline sent eight batters to the plate in the fourth inning, when they scored their only runs. Pat Smith led off with a double into the left-field corner and Josh Conkey drove him home with a single to right. Brad Borghetti's single put runners at the corners and a walk to Cliff Panezich loaded the bases with no outs, but a force play at the plate took some of the pressure off Mooney right-hander Mark Seddon.
Kevin Barry's sacrifice fly sent Conkey home for a 2-1 Irish lead, but after a walk loaded the bases again, Seddon was able to get out of the jam with one of his three strikeouts.
Two wins over rival
Seddon (3-1) threw a four-hitter, beating the Irish for the second time this season.
"In that win I had a few more strikeouts, but tonight I had my curve working real good and I was staying ahead on most counts to their hitters," he said.
Seddon induced 11 groundball outs, including seven to shortstop Jeff Hehr.
Hehr opened the sixth inning for Mooney with a drive to right for a triple and he tied the game shortly thereafter on a wild pitch.
"I tagged a 3-2 fastball that was up and took it the other way," said Hehr.
Mike Babyak walked and scored on Brian Drummond's double to left-center.
Drummond was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Ursuline's defense
The Irish (2-8, 1-5 SVC) played good defense behind Josh Conkey, coming up with two double plays.
They had the leadoff hitter on in the seventh inning, but Seddon was equal to the task, stranding him to end the game.
"This was an exceptionally well played game on both sides with both pitchers doing what they had to do to keep their teams in the game," said Ursuline coach Sean Durkin, "but another tough loss has been the story of our season."