St. Thomas Aquinas Enjoys Big Win Over Good Counsel
Raiders starter Blake Hely earned the win, while recording 10 strikeouts.
The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders came into the HSBN March Madness Shootout as the second seed in the Gold Bracket, and in Saturday night’s opener they proved exactly how dangerous they can be. Facing a talented opponent in Good Counsel, Maryland, St. Thomas held nothing back, jumping ahead early and then pulling away late for a 12-2 win at Pompano Municipal Park in Pompano Beach.
Every starter reached base for the Raiders, and nine different players each scored at least one run. Meanwhile, starter Blake Hely struck out 10 in five innings to earn the victory.
St. Thomas (13-4) will face Westminster Academy in a Gold Bracket quarterfinal on Monday night. The Lions advanced to that game by defeating Miami Brito 9-8 earlier in the day.
A three-run third inning opened the scoring to give the Raiders all the runs they ultimately needed. Chris Valencia singled to left, advanced to second on an error and then moved on to third after tagging up on a flyout from Jaret Kappelman. Andres Antonini then sent him home when he laced a triple into the right field corner. Isaiah Perry quickly increased that lead by jumping on the first offering he got and crushing it for a two-run home run.
Good Counsel’s Joey Goodwin crushes a shot deep to left field for a two-RBI double in the sixth.
The Raiders went on to add three more runs in each of the next three frames to close things out. Kappelman led the way by piling up three RBIs on a 2-for-4 night, and Chris Ruckdeschel drove in a pair and scored twice while going 1-for-3 and also getting hit by a pitch. Valencia scored twice as well, and he drove in two on a 2-for-2 showing, and Antonini also collected two hits.
The Falcons (5-5) never gave in despite falling into a deep hole. Good Counsel ended the shutout and got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Patience paid off as Mathew McVeigh, Zach Huddleston and Garrett Walker all walked to load up the bases. Joey Goodwin then connected for his third hit of the night, this one a hard liner that jumped off the bat and soared to left field to barely stay in the yard and allow Goodwin to cruise into second base with a two-RBI double.
The rest of the Falcons’ offense did not find as much success against the Raiders’ pitching, as Goodwin collected half his team’s hits on the night. Mike Kohn was 2-for-4 and Theo Colbert connected for Good Counsel’s only other hit of the ball game.
Good Counsel will face Miami Christian on Monday afternoon in a consolation match up.
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