WILMINGTON – St. Elizabeth scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a lead on Tatnall that they would not relinquish in a 9-6 baseball win on April 2. It was the Vikings’ third win against one loss this season, coming on a gray, damp day at Canby Park.
The fifth-inning explosion marked the second deficit the Vikings overcame in the back-and-forth game. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Jake Eckhardt double that scored Bryce Wilson, St. E’s fell behind in the third. Tatnall used two walks, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Veghte to tie the score, and Matthew Ahmad stroked a two-out single to score Mason McAllister with the go-ahead run.
The Vikings tied the score in the bottom of the third. Thomas Murphy singled with one out, stole second and third, and scored on a groundout by Wilson.
The Hornets took the lead again in the fifth. Patrick Echternach worked a walk to open the frame, and with one out, he scored on a Veghte double. A balk moved Veghte to third, and he scored on a disputed play. St. Elizabeth catcher Cole Lane was called for interference on former Viking Justin Bozzo on an attempted suicide squeeze, and Veghte was awarded home. That increased the Hornets’ lead to 4-2. Tatnall loaded the bases, but relief pitcher Chase Consalo struck out two batters to get out of trouble.
St. Elizabeth took the lead for good in their half. James Adair singled to right to start the fifth, and after an out, Wilson singled to center. Eckhardt reached on an error that allowed one run to score. After a pitching change, Chris Reilly (St. Elizabeth Parish) sent a blast down the hill in deep left, restoring the Vikings’ lead with a two-run triple.
Nick Florencio walked before the Hornets recorded the second out, but Zach Tolvasia (St. Elizabeth Parish) singled to bring Reilly in, and Adair added another run-scoring single two batters later.
The Hornets cut into that lead in the next half-inning, scoring twice after the first two batters struck out. Bozzo doubled to right to score a pair and had the go-ahead run on base when Consalvo got the last out on a ground ball. The Vikings pushed the lead back to three with two runs in their half of the sixth.
Wilson had two hits and scored three runs for the Vikings, and Eckhardt had a pair of hits and scored once with a run batted in. Reilly had three RBI. On the mound, Jayden Gonzalez-McNulty (St. Elizabeth Parish) had nine strikeouts and Consalo had six. St. Elizabeth (3-1) is at Canby Park on April 8 at 1 p.m. against Conrad.
For the Hornets, Veghte had two hits and two runs batted in, and he scored a run. McAllister was on base three times, scoring twice. Three pitchers combined to strike out seven. Tatnall fell to 0-2 and plays at Concord on April 6 at 3:45 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
