Home Local Sports Big sixth inning carries Sussex Tech baseball past Salesianum: Photo gallery

Big sixth inning carries Sussex Tech baseball past Salesianum: Photo gallery

740
Mason Mercante of Salesianum lays down a sacrifice bunt in the third inning. Dialog photo/Mike Lang

WILMINGTON — Sussex Tech scored five runs in the fifth inning to break open a tie game, then held on as Salesianum mounted a furious comeback. The Ravens left Wilmington with an 8-6 win on April 16 at Frawley Stadium, handing the Sals their first loss of the season.

The teams were knotted at three after four innings, but the Ravens’ big bats went to work in the sixth against freshman Cory Sheridan of Salesianum. Jaryn Sample led off with a single to right-center, and Landon Ruark followed with a single to right. A hit batter loaded the bases. Sheridan recovered to strike out the next batter, but pinch-hitter Kade Hall worked a walk to force in the go-ahead run.

That was it for Sheridan. Aidan Chermol came in to relieve him, and the first batter he faced, Rosnell Lewis, drilled a two-run single to right, scoring two runs. A third run scored when the throw home went to the backstop, increasing the Sussex Tech lead to 7-3. Lewis scored on a single by Grant Allen.

The Sals hadn’t scored since the first, but pinch-hitter Brandon Baffone singled with one out in the sixth against Grant Allen, who had come in to relieve starter Zane Adams. Conor Campbell then singled to left for his third hit of the night, and after a fly out, John Dunion brought Baffone home with a single. An error kept the inning alive, and Quinn Bartkowski made Tech pay for the error with a double that brought home two more runs.

Salesianum had runners on second and third with two outs for Mason Mercante. He drilled a fly ball into right-center field, but rightfielder Dakota Culley made a running catch.

The Sals put two runners on base in the ninth inning, but Allen preserved the win by getting Zach Czarnecki to fly out to center.

The game started well for the Sals. They scored three times in the bottom of the first inning, They had three hits, including an RBI double for Dunion and a run-scoring single for Bartkowski. But after that inning, Adams was able to work out of trouble as the Sals put runners in scoring position in each of the next three innings.

Allen and Ruark each had three hits for the Ravens. Lewis had two hits and three runs batted in. Adams struck out three in five innings. Sussex Tech (5-3) snapped a three-game skid; the Ravens host Caesar Rodney on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Campbell had four hits and was on base five times, scoring twice for the Sals. Dunion had two hits, two RBI and a pair of runs scored, and Bartkowski had a pair of hits and drove in three. Salesianum fell to 6-1 and meets Newark Charter on Tuesday at noon at Leroy Hill Park.

All photos by Mike Lang.