The Pats took the L in a hard fought game against Archbishop Wood on April 18, 3-2.
Junior Liam Wray was on the bump for the Pats, and he got off to a good start early. Wray mowed down Woods’ lineup and got some help from his fielders as well. The score was 0-0 going into the top of the second.
The top of the second looked promising for Pats as senior Marco Petroccia hit a two-out double to get things going. Sophomore Nick Gilroy roped a line drive to left field, but it found the glove of a Viking defender. The score was still 0-0 going into the bottom of the second.
The bottom of the second was no different as the bottom of the first for Wray. Wray got through the meat of the Vikings’ order and was giving the Pats a good chance to win. The top and bottom of the third was a pitching duel as both pitchers brought their A-game through the first three innings.
In the top of the fourth, the Pats started to get something going. With sophomore Danny McNally working a walk, and junior Drew Mulligan getting a base hit, the Pats found themselves with men on second and third with one out. Senior Gavin Wray was up to bat, and he hit a deep fly ball to center field that scored a run. Unfortunately, the runner on second base left early, and the inning ended with the Pats leading 1-0.
Wray was still dealing strikes for the Pats, and the Vikings were getting a few hits off of him. With a couple hits and a bunt, the Vikings were on the board and the score was tied 1-1 going into the top of the fifth.
In the top of the fifth, the Pats didn’t let off the gas as there was a runner on second with one out and senior Stephen Thomson hit an RBI single. Thomson hustled for another bag as the Vikings recklessly threw the ball around. Wood ended up getting Thomson out at third on a ground ball to shortstop and had a strikeout to end the inning. Going into the bottom of the fifth, the Pats were up 2-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Vikings put one more up on the board off of Wray and senior Anthony Auteri came in for the Pats. He got the Pats out of a tricky jam, and the score was tied 2-2 going into the top of the sixth.
Unfortunately, the Pats did not capitalize on Auteri’s great pitching and did not put up a run in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, with a guy on second and third, there was a hard ground ball that hit off the pitcher’s hand that scored a run. The Vikings were now up 3-2 going into the top of the seventh.
In the top of the seventh, the Pats just couldn’t seem to get one more run. Archbishop Wood took the W 3-2.
Coach Jonathan Grosse said a few words to the team after the disappointing loss.
“Sometimes you’re going to play better than the other team and still lose,” Grosse said.
Thomson expressed some urgency about the rest of the season.
“We got to get things going quickly,” Thomson said. “We have six games left, and we have to make something happen soon.”
Junior Mark Fohner looked ahead to the next game.
“This coming week is huge,” said Fohner. “If we play well as a team, we’ll be in good shape.”
