NANTUCKET – The last time the defending MIAA Div. 4 State Champion St. John Paul II baseball team lost was May 17, 2014.
That’s 22 straight wins since falling to Barnstable High almost a year ago.
St. John Paul Ii junior rightfielder Jonny Warden went a combined 5-6 with five RBI in two wins last night at McKeon Park in Hyannis.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
And Thursday afternoon the newly crowned 2015 Cape & Islands League champions (clinched earlier this week) continued to display that dominance with a two-game sweep of Bishop Connolly at McKeon Park by scores of 19-2 and 12-0, after hammering out a neck-aching 31 hits.
In the opener of the non-league doubleheader, righty Eric DelRosso went the distance for the win, allowed just five hits and struck out seven batters as the game was shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule. His teammates hammered out 19 hits and plated seven runs in the first inning as they batted around the order. Of the 13 different Lions’ players who stepped into the batter’s box in the game, 12 had hits.
Junior Jonny Warden was the leader of that deluge, going 4-4 with a towering two-run home run and four RBI and DelRosso helped his own cause with a 3-3 day at the plate and three RBI including a pair of doubles. Matt Santos went 2-3 with four RBI and leadoff man Bobby Higgins went 2-3, as did Blake Waters.
In the nightcap, a 12-0 shutout, Lions’ freshman Devin Harrison went the distance in his first career varsity start for his first career win. He needed 75 pitches in five innings of work, struck out eight, walked one and allowed three hits.
Waters (2-4, RBI), Santos (2-4, RBI), Joe Oriola (2-3, RBI) and Jake Good (2-2, RBI) each had multiple hits to pace a lineup that had 12 hits in all.
Now 12-0 on the season, St. John Paul II heads to Wareham High for a non-league, 6:00 pm game at Clement S. Spillane Field.
Saturday, at 2:00 pm, the Lions head across town to Barnstable High to face the Red Raiders. The last time the two teams met, St. John Paul II defeated Barnstable, 19-5.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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