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Richey, Pecchia lead Cardinal Mooney over Ursuline
Mooney vs Ursuline
Gallery
By Greg Gulas
STRUTHERS
Bryce Richey and Dom Pecchia each had three hits and Cardinal Mooney ripped 12 as a team as the Cardinals defeated Ursuline, 10-6 Tuesday at Bob Cene Park.
Mooney’s No. 2 through No. 5 hitters reached base safely 11 times.
“We started the season just 1-3 so we have a lot of work to get done. We lost to St. Vincent-St. Mary yesterday so we needed a win today,” Richey said. “This was a big bounce-back game for.”
Richey had a triple and double and scored two runs.
“I was thinking fastball each time up and was just able to drive the ball,” he said. “This will give us some momentum as we get ready for this weekend’s high school baseball tournament.”
The Fighting Irish (2-3) struck first in the opening inning, forging a 2-0 lead on run-scoring singles by both Chris Patton and Dan Leslie.
The Cardinals (2-3) tied it up in their half of the inning, knotting the score at 2 when designated hitter Anthony Potesta’s single up the middle plated Alex Wollet and Brennen Olesh with the tying runs.
Ursuline regained the lead in the third inning on Leslie’s second single and second RBI of the night, only to lose the lead in the bottom half of the frame when the Cardinals plated three more runs.
Richey led the inning off with a triple, scoring on Olesh’s infield out for a 3-3 tie.
Mooney then took the lead when Pecchia scored on Vinny Santisi’s fielder’s choice, adding another tally after Potesta raced home with their fifth run of the game on Chris Lewis’ throwing error.
“I’ve been a part of this series for the past three years and each game is more intense than the previous one,” Pecchia said. “They led, we led and each team battled back the entire game. We expected a great start to our season, but have struggled so this win helps us as we move forward.”
The Fighting Irish pulled to within 5-4 in the fourth inning when Vince Armeni’s two-out double scored Colin Balas, scoring twice for a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning on a Balas infield single and the benefit of two Cardinals errors.
“We’re an inexperienced team, but that’s no excuse. I was proud of our effort today, especially from our young players,” Fighting Irish head coach Matt Weymer said. “We played Kenston on Sunday and lacked effort, especially at the plate. Tonight, we came to play and that was great to see.”
The Cardinals came back in their half of the fifth inning, tying the game once again when Potesta’s sacrifice fly scored Olesh and a 6-6 tie.
They put the game away with four runs in the sixth inning, the key blows a run scoring double by Lewis, run producing single by Pecchia and sacrifice fly by Alex Wollet.
“Spring baseball is tough weather-wise, simply because you play a day, are off a couple days and struggle to find any continuity,” Cardinals head coach Al Franceschelli said. We made some mistakes defensively, but we’re starting to come around with our bats. Ursuline is a nice young team so it was nice to sneak out a win today.”