St. Thomas Sends Message With 4-0 Win Over Douglas
Nick Marchese threw five innings of no-hit ball Tuesday night.
Playing in big games is nothing new for the St. Thomas and Douglas baseball programs. Last year, the Raiders reached the regional semifinals, and the Eagles the regional finals. What was new was two of the projected top teams in the county squaring off in the first week of the season.
Traditionally one of the top tournaments of the year, the Falcons Challenge, hosted by Flanagan, provided an opportunity on Tuesday evening for Broward fans to see what the Raiders and Eagles had to offer in the new season. St. Thomas did not disappoint, with Nick Marchese and Wesley Spano combining on a one-hitter en route to a 4-0 win over Douglas.
“We came out tonight and we played good baseball,” said St. Thomas Manager Troy Cameron. “That’s what we try to coach, and when it happens, it’s fun to be a part of. This was a big early season test for our guys, and I was pleased to see they were ready for the challenge.”
The game started out as a pitchers duel, with Marchese and Douglas starter Ricky Miranda each putting up zeroes in the first two frames. In the bottom of the third, St. Thomas was able to break through with the game’s first runs. Daniel Lowry started the inning with a single to left. After a strikeout, Carter White, hitting out of the ninth position in the order, launched an RBI triple to left. Leadoff batter Cam Krzeminski followed with an RBI single of his own, staking the Raiders to a 2-0 lead.
Juaquin Maese delivers a pitch for the Eagles.
“I had been struggling with pulling the trigger in a hitters count,” said White, when speaking about his approach heading into the third inning at-bat. “I just kind of made my mind up going up there to clear my mind, and be aggressive. From there it was just see ball, hit ball. Fortunately enough, we started a rally, and scored those runs early.”
In the fourth the Raiders offense padded their lead with an RBI single off the bat of Kenny Hornig. Scoring on the play was Alex Dickenson, who had been hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
The final run of the game came across in the fifth. Jawuan Harris hit a two-out double, chasing Miranda from the game. Dickenson followed with an RBI single, giving St. Thomas a 4-0 lead. This was more than enough for Marchese, who cruised through five innings without giving up a hit.
“Last week in preseason, I didn’t pitch all that well,” said Marchese. “So today was about finding the strike zone, trying to keep my ball down in the zone, and working on my curve ball and change-up command. They’re a good team, and it is always nice to pitch well and get a team win against a top opponent.”
With the game in hand most of the night, the toughest decision Cameron had to make was pulling his pitcher in the midst of the no-hitter attempt.
“It is really tough to pull a guy in that situation,” said Cameron. “Especially on a night like tonight when it looked like he was actually getting better as the game wore on. But we know this a long season, and keeping an eye on his pitch count is important in the long run.”
Daniel Lowrly gets under the tag of Eagles catcher Dominic DiCaprio.
For Douglas, it was the second time in three seasons that the Eagles lost their second game of the Falcon Challenge after winning their opener. In 2013, Douglas lost to Killian. That year, the Eagles advanced all the way to the regional semifinals, which kept the game Tuesday in perspective for Manager Todd Fitz-Gerald.
“I thought it was a good game on both sides, well pitched on their side obviously,” said Fitz-Gerald. “It’s early in the season, there’s a long way to go. Games like this will only help us down the road.”
St. Thomas will be back in action Wednesday against Calvary Christian at 4 PM. Douglas will wait on the results of that game to determine whether the Eagles can reach the championship game, currently set for Friday night.
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