St. Thomas Wins Dramatic Extra Inning Classic Over Nova

Nova and St. Thomas have been district rivals for many years, but Friday the two powerhouse programs produced one of the best games in the history of their series. St. Thomas ended up winning the see-saw affair, 6-5, in eleven innings.

Sophomore Alec Byrd could have been the hero in this one, throwing six innings of no-hit ball. Had he completed the no-hitter, that would have been a story in itself, but what ended up happening made for even more drama.

The scoring started with two outs in the third. St. Thomas’ Jake Rudock singled to the right side and the next batter walked. This brought up the five-hitter, Austin Barron, who promptly drove a ball over the center field fence against Nova starter Troy Massaro, giving St. Thomas a 3-0 lead.

The score stayed the same until the seventh. There was an anxious hush in the stands as sophomore Byrd went back out to try and finish off the no-hitter, but he had to face the meat of Nova’s order. George Gugino ripped a clean single to right field to lead-off the seventh, breaking up the no-hitter in the process. The next batter, designated hitter Jason Wilpon worked a staggering, nine pitch at-bat into a walk. At this point, Raiders fans began to feel uneasy.

The next batter popped up, but the ball was misplayed in the windy conditions by the St. Thomas second baseman. With runners on first and third, Skylar Fox drilled a ball down the third base line that was snagged by third baseman Austin Baron. C.J. Chatham then shocked Raiders fans by launching a ball over the center-field fence to tie the game.

“I felt great going into the last inning,” Byrd said after the game, “I was hoping to get the no hitter, but after I gave it up, I just had to concentrate on finishing.”

In the top of the eight, Jimmy Wright came in to replace Byrd. After striking out the nine hole batter, the top of the lineup came around for Nova. Lead-off batter Zach Kleiman singled and Corey Graf launched a home run over the center field wall to give Nova a 5-3 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning St. Thomas was down to their final three outs. The first Raiders batter reached on infield single. Rudock followed with an infield hit. After an error placed runners on first and third, Baron’s hard hit ground ball was mishandled by the Titans shortstop. One hit later, the Raiders had tied the score at five, moving the epic game further into extra innings.

In the bottom of the eleventh the Raiders fans again had reason to cheer after designated hitter Charlie Cormier hit a bullet over the first base bag that went for a triple. The next batter, Rudock, hit a high chopper up the middle that went through and into center-field, sending St. Thomas players and fans into a frenzy. it was Rudock’s fourth hit of the game.

“I was trying to read the pitcher, and listen to what other guys were telling me about him,” said Rudock, when asked about the game winning hit. “I was going off of that.”

Coach Bobby Lawson was excited after the game, but the game was nothing less than he expected against Nova.

“They are a great team, they have a great program, and they’re well coached,” he said.

When asked about the Nova comeback in the seventh, Lawson claimed he was, “not surprised.”

“You knew sooner or later they were going to come out and do something. That’s baseball. We had our opportunities to close it out, that’s just a tribute to Nova, they are going to battle, and battle and battle, and that’s kind of the game we are used to getting from them.”

St. Thomas takes the district lead with the win, improving to 3-0, with an overall record of 5-1. Nova falls to 5-1 overall, and 3-1 in district play.

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