HOCKESSIN — Salesianum put together a solid offensive effort and got excellent defense and pitching in a 7-2 win over Sanford in the quarterfinals of the DIAA state baseball tournament on May 28 in Hockessin. The Sals will play the top seed, Sussex Central, on Thursday at Frawley Stadium in one semifinal.
This is the Sals’ first trip to the semifinals since 2019, when they were the No. 2 seed.
This year, as the 13th seed, the Sals have spent the last two rounds on the road, with Sanford the No. 5 seed. The Warriors, who fell to Salesianum on May 17 in the regular-season finale, got on the board against starting pitcher Jack Rossi in the first inning on a run-scoring double by Luke Filliben.
That Sals’ offense tied the game in the second against Warriors starter Alex Gannon. Luke Steinrock opened the inning with a walk, was sacrificed to second and scored on a two-out triple from Landon Johnston. They took the lead in the third, again following a leadoff walk, this one to Matt Speicher. Tre Villanova doubled, and Speicher came home on a Jimmy Gray sacrifice fly.
Salesianum’s big inning was the fifth. Speicher had another leadoff walk, and he scored on a long triple to center field by Villanova. Gray followed with a single to plate Villanova to make it 4-1. After a Matt McSorley walk and a strikeout, Rossi smacked a single to center, driving in Gray. C.J. Moxley singled to load the bases, and Johnston flew out to center against relief pitcher John Malloy, scoring McSorley.
After allowing three base runners and the run in the first inning, Rossi shut down the Warriors for the next four innings. He retired the side in order in the second and fourth, and he allowed a double to Brady Fox in the third. His defense was stout all day, with his outfielders making some nice catches on the bright afternoon, and the infield turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the fifth.
Fox walked in the sixth and scored two batters later on a Filliben single. Rossi escaped further trouble. Johnston drove in the Sals’ final run in the seventh with a single, and relief pitcher James Lai set Sanford down in the seventh to seal the win.
Villanova had four hits, a run scored and an RBI. Johnston had two hits and three runs batted in; he was on base four times. Rossi allowed six hits and struck out three. Lai struck out one. The Sals’ outfielders — Steinrock in left, Speicher in center and Cole Graham in right — were busy all day.
The Sals improved to 14-7. The semifinal will start at 2 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are available at gofan.co/app/school/DIAA and also are good for the first semifinal, which starts at 11 a.m. and features Caesar Rodney and Sussex Tech. Salesianum lost to Sussex Central on April 6 in their third game of the season.
Fox and Filliben both were on base three times, with Fox scoring both runs courtesy of Filliben hits. Ryan Timmons had two hits. Gannon struck out five. Malloy added one strikeout in his 2.2 innings of relief. Sanford capped a fantastic season at 17-3.
Photos by Mike Lang.
