WILMINGTON — It was a night of firsts at Salesianum on March 25 when the baseball team opened Fusco Field under the lights against Tower Hill. The defending state champion Sals combined solid pitching with great defense and clutch hitting in a 13-2 victory in the season opener.
John Burnowski provided the leather on the first batter of the game, making a diving stop at third base. Pitcher James Lai then picked up his first strikeout to begin an excellent outing against the Hillers, who had defeated the Sals last year, 1-0.
The Sals got on the board in the first inning. Jimmy Gray drew a two-out walk, stole second and third base, and scored the first run in stadium history on an error. Gray wasn’t done, later collecting Fusco Field’s first hit, a double in the third, scoring on a fielder’s choice to double the lead.
Salesianum added four runs in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Landon Johnston, a walk by Matt McSorley and a two-run single for Burnowski.
Tower Hill got their lone hit in the fifth, when they scored both of their runs, but the Sals tacked on three in the bottom half, with Johnston tripling in one of them. He also ended the game in the bottom of the sixth with a walkoff three-run home run that cleared the left-centerfield fence.
Johnston finished with two hits and five runs batted in, and Gray finished with two hits, three steals and four runs scored. Lai pitched 4.2 innings and allowed the one hit. Aidan Moore had three strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief. Salesianum (1-0) hosts Archmere on Friday at 7 p.m.
Trey Truesdale had the lone hit for the Hillers, who fell to 0-1. They travel to Concord on Thursday afternoon at 3:45.
