WILMINGTON – Through five innings on May 24, Salesianum’s hopes of moving on in the DIAA baseball state tournament looked dim. The No. 4 Sals trailed the 13th seed, William Penn, 4-0, and they had had just four runners even reach base against Colonials starter Justin Weidner.
But Matt McSorley drilled a three-run home run in the sixth to get them within a run, and Salesianum rallied for two more in the bottom of the seventh. Landon Johnston’s single to right field scored Brooks O’Hanlon with the winning run in a 5-4 decision over William Penn at Kenney Diamond.
Weidner and his counterpart from Salesianum, Brandon Emig (St, Mary of the Assumption Parish), were evenly matched early on, helped by some solid defense. Penn threatened in the first, putting two batters on with two outs, but Emig escaped trouble with a strikeout. The Sals had a golden opportunity in the second with runners at first and third with no outs, but Weidner got out of that jam.
The Colonials started showing their muscle in the third. Shawn Roy began the inning with a long home run over the fence in right-center to start the scoring. John Grybowski added a long ball in the fourth, doubling the lead. And Colby Gilbert smoked a two-run dinger of his own in the fifth, doubling Penn’s run total once again.
Salesianum’s offensive fortunes changed in the sixth. Brooks O’Hanlon singled to open the frame, and C.J. Moxley walked. McSorley stepped into the box, and he electrified the Sals’ bench and fans with a home run over the left-field fence. Jack Bujnowski singled and was sacrificed to second, but Grybowski, the Colonials’ shortstop, helped keep his team on top with two stellar defensive plays.
The Colonials did have two runners on with one out in the seventh against Sals reliever J.J. Lai, but Bujnowski snagged a sharp grounder at third base and turned it into a double play to end the threat.
They still had work to do at the plate. Pinch hitter Brady Nabb walked to begin the seventh, and Tai Wu replaced him as a pinch runner. O’Hanlon singled with one out, but Weidner induced a popup for the second out. McSorley tied the game with a single to right, scoring Wu and sending O’Hanlon to third. A walk loaded the bases for Johnston (St. Margaret of Scotland Parish). He sent a line drive into the gap in right-center, bringing O’Hanlon home and setting off a celebration between first and second.
McSorley finished with three hits and four runs batted in. O’Hanlon singled twice and scored both times, and Johnson finished with two hits and the winning RBI. Emig allowed six hits and struck out eight. The Sals improved to 14-5 and will play fifth-seeded Dover in the quarterfinals on May 27 at home at a time to be announced.
For the Colonials, Gilbert led the offense with three hits, and Roy had two. Weidner struck out three. William Penn finished the season 13-7.
In other tournament action, No. 7 Saint Mark’s defeated No. 10 Sanford, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon. The Sapartans will play second-seeded Sussex Central on Tuesday at Sports at the Beach in Georgetown at a time to be announced.
Photos by Mike Lang.
