In a North Bay League - Redwood game Friday afternoon, St. Vincent de Paul moved to second place in league play, taking a profound 10-4 victory over the Healdsburg Greyhounds.
“Today was definitely a dogfight,” St. Vincent de Paul head coach Spencer Finkbohner said. “I told these guys when they were getting dressed this afternoon, we got to be ready for the first pitch, first punch thrown.”
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth, the Mustangs stormed back scoring five runs. The rally began with RBI’s from junior third baseman Eddy Stone, senior outfielder/catcher Jake Decarli and senior outfielder Liam O’Hare. Then, a two run single from senior second baseman Taiki Belway gave the Mustangs some breathing room as they opened up a 7-3 lead and did not look back.
They continued to add to their lead after a dropped pop up which allowed them put up two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. They put up their final tally of the afternoon thanks to an RBI single from junior Mac Cauz.
St. Vincent de Paul's pitching and defense started off slow however, giving up three hits, including an RBI double, three walks and three runs in the first three innings.
Healdsburg received solid offensive play from junior shortstop Jack Domenichelli, who ended up going 1-3 with an RBI, and Ayden Herguth, who also went 1-3 and recorded an RBI.
The Greyhound bats cooled as they only scored one run the rest of the game on just one hit. That was due in large part to St. Vincent de Paul sophomore starting pitcher Josh Malik, who settled in after the slow start as he gave up four earned runs in his five innings of work while striking out five.
The Mustangs were solid at the plate throughout as they tallied 13 hits in the performance, compared to just three for the visitors.
Greyhound pitching struggled throughout as they consistently fell behind in counts, giving Mustang batters plenty of hitters counts.
This offensive explosion for the Mustangs was led by the play of Stone who recorded three hits in three at bats with two doubles, four runs scored, and an RBI. They were also led by O’Hare who ended up with one hit in three at bats with an RBI.
The Mustangs solid performance was capped off by the pitching of sophomore Nico Antonini who pitched the final two innings with two strikeouts, allowing no runs, on only one hit.
After a full-team effort victory for the Mustangs, this improves their record to 7-4 overall, and 3-1 in league play. After the loss, the Greyhounds fell to 8-5 overall, and 2-2 in league play.
“We just have to keep playing, and keep everyone healthy,” Malik said. “And for the most part, get wins.”
As the Mustangs continue into their league play, they are very content with the season so far and are looking to do damage going forward.
“We've had some really good wins, but we've had some bad losses but other than that, I think we're having a really good season,” senior first baseman Carter Payte said. “I'm ready to compete to win the league.”
Upcoming for the Mustangs, they hit the road to face off against first place West County next Tuesday followed by a home contest between the same two teams next Friday.
For Healdsburg, they begin a three-game series against Piner. They’ll play at Piner next Tuesday, and home the following two games on Thursday and Friday.
