St. Vincent works hard, keeps win streak alive

Catcher Matt Pierson lofted a clutch game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning to pace St. Vincent to a tense 4-3 win against rival Sonoma Academy on Friday as the Mustangs captured their 14th consecutive victory. Pierson drove the ball deep enough to right-center field to knock in Ryan Nalducci from third base and keep the St. Vincent win streak alive.

The Mustangs had their hands full all afternoon with the pesky young Coyotes, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit and threatened to go ahead in a couple of frames where runners were gunned down at the plate. Eight players on the Coyote roster are freshmen.

Defense was a key ingredient to the narrow Mustang win as right fielder AJ Wright threw out a runner at home in the third inning with a rocket to Pierson that nailed a Coyote runner with plenty to spare.

Later in the game, Sonoma missed another opportunity to go ahead when a blown sign on an attempted squeeze play backfired and Pierson again made the tag.

Starting St. Vincent pitcher Gio Antonini got through the first three innings but struggled with his command, and he was replaced on the bump by lefty Ethan Rapoport, who eventually was credited with the win after four innings of work. Rapoport gave up six hits but got out of trouble along the way, including retiring the side in order in the seventh inning.

Sonoma got an outstanding effort from first-year right-hander Tyler Nordby, who went 5? innings before exiting with a high pitch count in the sixth frame. Nordby tossed up a variety of breaking pitches that kept St. Vincent batters off stride, but he could not get past the first inning when a triple and a couple of his own wild throws to first base helped the Mustangs score three early runs.

Reno Nalducci, who had another solid day defensively at shortstop for the host Mustangs, greeted Nordby with a shot into the left-field corner that was good for three bases. The line drive appeared to temporarily rattle Nordby, who hurt his own cause with a couple of overthrows to first later in the inning. Sophomore Andrew Kohler had two RBIs with a single in the inning for St. Vincent.

Nalducci and Kohler had two hits each to pace the seven-hit offense by the Mustangs.

A leaping catch of a line drive off the bat of Adam Zimmer by Nalducci was one of the many defensive highlights for the Mustangs.

Sonoma Academy out hit the Mustangs, 10-7, but it was a flawless defense by the home club that made the difference.

Oscar McCauley and Fabrizio Caro both had doubles and a pair of hits for Sonoma Academy. Nordby knocked in the tying run with a single for the Coyotes in the top of the sixth inning. The Coyotes are 2-2 in North Central II baseball play.

St. Vincent will host contending Lick Wilmerding of the Bay Counties West League on April 30.

Eagles grounded

St. Vincent had an equally important NCL II win Monday, stretching its winning streak to 15 with an 8-1 victory over Rincon Valley Christian’s Eagles.

Trent Free pitched five strong innings, allowing just the one run on three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts. Reno Nalducci and Ethan Rapoport each hurled a scoreless inning, with Nalducci striking out two and Rapoport one.

Nalducci led the Mustangs at the plate with two hits. Kohler also had a pair. Sophomore Coelton Cristiani slugged a triple and scored three runs.