WILMINGTON — Salesianum came into its DIAA baseball tournament game on May 28 at the fourth seed, but No. 20 William Penn gave the Sals all they could handle before the Sals captured a 2-0 victory. They will play a quarterfinal game against fifth-seeded Saint Mark’s on Tuesday.
After a 90-minute delay, both pitchers came out on fire in this second-round matchup. The Sals’ Zack Czarnecki retired the Colonials in order in the first, then hit a one-out double in the bottom of the first, but the Sals couldn’t score. Colonials starting pitcher Michael Lane retired the Sals in order in the second inning and struck out the side in the third. Czarnecki combined for four strikeouts in the second and third innings as the game remained scoreless through three.
The Colonials got one-out singles from Brandon Grygo and John Grybowski in the fourth. Czarnecki escaped trouble, getting the next two batters on a pop out and a ground ball, respectively. Jake Dunion led off the Sals’ half of the fourth with a walk, stole second and was sacrificed to third by Connor Cambell. Brandon Baffone provided a one-out single to give the Sals the 1-0 lead.
The Colonials got a two-out triple by Grygo in the sixth, and Grybowski got hit by a pitch, but Czarnecki induced a fly ball to end the inning. Dunion led off the sixth for the Sals with a double off the fence in left center and would score on a single by Baffone.
Czarnecki finished the complete game by retiring the Colonials in order in the seventh. He scattered five hits and struck out seven. Baffone finished 2 for 3 and knocked in both runs. The Sals (15-4) will host Saint Mark’s on Tuesday in the DIAA quarterfinals at 4 p.m. The teams split two regular-season battles.
Grygo led the Colonials offense, going 2 for 3, and Lane allowed six hits and struck out five. William Penn finished the season 11-9.
All photos by Jason Winchell.
