Home Local Sports Nine-run first inning propels Salesianum past St. Elizabeth on diamond

Nine-run first inning propels Salesianum past St. Elizabeth on diamond

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Dom Ragazzo slides home with a run for Salesianum ahead of the tag from St. Elizabeth catcher Christian Strickland. The umpire and another Sallies player look on intently. (The Dialog/Mike Lang)

WILMINGTON – Salesianum sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring nine runs on their way to a 12-2 win over St. Elizabeth in five innings on May 15. The Sals pounded out 13 hits and held the Vikings to five on the afternoon.

St. Elizabeth put two runners on base in the first, but Sallies starter Reece Bolton worked out of that trouble. It didn’t take long in the bottom half of the frame for the Sals to get going.

Dom Ragazzo, who would reach base four times in the game, led off with a walk, and he stole second and third base. Jacob Dunion reached on an error with one out, with Ragazzo coming home. That started a streak of six straight Sals getting on base, and all of them scored. Alex Hinton walked and Joe setting singled, loading the bases. Brendan Pacheco scored two runners with a single to left.

The Dialog/Mike Lang

The fourth run came home on an Ethan Valentine single, and a walk to Joe Sheets loaded the bases again. Sam DelCollo drove one run in on a sacrifice fly. Ragazzo batted for the second time in the first, and his single resulted in a run batted in. Dylan Rees also singled, driving in Sheets, and Dunion ended the scoring with a two-run triple that rolled nearly to the football goalposts in deep center field.

Bolton retired the Vikings in order in the second, but his command abandoned him in the third. Tom Maddams opened the inning with a single, and John Shields walked. Both advanced on a double steal, and after a fly out, Nate Beringer walked to load the bases. Two more consecutive walks, to Jaden Dickerson and Christian Strickland, drove in the only St. Elizabeth runs of the game. Bolton got out number two on a strikeout, and he made a nice play on a comebacker to get out of the jam.

Salesianum added the final three runs in their half of the third. Ragazzo got the action started with a walk, followed by a run-scoring double by Rees. Dunion and Alex Hinton singled to score Rees, and Dunion eventually crossed the plate on a Pacheco double.

Lance Hinton came on in relief of Bolton in the fifth. The Vikings had runners on first and second with one out when Hayden Trimarco hit a sharp grounder toward third. Harrison Burns, who had replaced Dunion, caught the ball on two hops, stepped on third and fired to first for a game-ending double play.

Ragazzo had two hits and two walks for Sallies, and he scored three times. Rees, Dunion, Pacheco and Valentine all had a multiple-hit game, and eight of the nine starters scored at least one run. Bolton had two strikeouts in the win. The Sals improved to 15-2 and close out the regular season Thursday at home against Sussex Tech at 4 p.m. The Ravens are 13-3.

For the Vikings, Dickerson was on base all three times he was up with two singles and the RBI walk. St. Elizabeth (4-13) closes out its campaign on Thursday at Concord. First pitch is at 3:45 p.m.