RallyNorth.net

LYNN — The Whittier baseball team found magic just days ago, with a shocking seven-run seventh inning to stun Pentucket. Unfortunatly for the Wildcats, however, that magic did not carry into the next round. No. 10 seed Whittier managed just a single hit, falling to No. 6 St. Mary’s of Lynn 4-1 in the Division 3 North semifinals at Fraser Field in Lynn. The Spartans move on to face Austin Prep in the North final on Saturday at LeLacheur Park in Lowell. “I thought we played pretty well,” said Whittier head coach Joe Boland. “But when we hit the ball hard it was right at people. The kids scrapped and stayed in the game, but St. Mary’s was just better than us today.” Whittier grabbed the lead in the second without the benifit of a hit.  Jorge Martinez led off the inning with a walk, the first of four free passes in five batters that ended with Josh Barton walking to force Martinez home. St. Mary’s threatened in both the second and third to tie the game, putting runners at second and third. But both times Whittier ace Austin Toohey was able to escape the jam. The Spartans did take the lead, however, with an RBI double and triple in the fourth. Other than that, Toohey pitched a stellar game. After working in releif on Monday, the senior pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out four. “Toohey pitched a terrific game,” said St. Mary’s head coach Derek Dana. “That is one tough kid who really fought. We had heard he pitched the other day, but he hung in there and I was really impressed. But Toohey just could not match the effort by Spartans pitcher Clay Yianacopolus. The lanky senior allowed just the single hit in six innings, striking out seven. He walked seven but other than the one run wasn’t hurt. “It was a very good pitcher’s duel,” said Boland. “Toohey did a very nice job. We may have over-pitched him a little. They got to him a little bit at the end, but he wouldn’t come out. He wanted to do everything he could for the team and he did a nice job. “This is  a great group that have played for me for a lot of years. I am going to miss them. It was a nice run.”

Trailing 6-0, Haverhill rallied for six runs with two out in the top of the seventh to tie the game but St. Mary’s plated the game-winner in the bottom of the inning for the win. Connor Manning went  3-for-4, including a bases loaded triple in the seventh inning. Matt Fenderson threw his fifth complete game of the year but was once again the hard-luck loser. The senior right-hander has a 1.45 ERA but has been on losing end of four, one-run losses.