Maybe they were simply due. Though the team was being outhit by nearly a four-to-one margin, St. Anne’s-Belfield found itself down by just one run in the bottom of the sixth inning. And after a walk and a pair of bunts that forced two errors, suddenly the Saints found themselves in the driver’s seat while Hampton Roads continued to implode defensively.
“The bunting was the key,” said St. Anne’s coach Alan Swanson. “We finally started putting pressure on them and it worked out pretty well in the end.”
With the momentum in STAB’s corner, the Navigators committed another error and followed it with a wild pitch to give the Saints the lead, and then John Siciliano would put the nail in the coffin with his 3-run shot over the left field fence as the Saints survived a scare, 11-6.
“The team did really well by getting on base and getting the bunts down,” Siciliano said of the late rally. “It threw them out of their rhythm. When I got up, I was thinking about relaxing and just hitting the ball. I wasn’t thinking homerun. I was trying to concentrate and drive it. It felt good when I hit it – it was definitely in the sweet spot.”
That was all the offense that St. Anne’s needed as its defense came out and closed the door in the top of the seventh to pick up their second win of the year in as many games.
The Saints jumped out to a 2-run lead in the bottom of the first inning, and extended the lead to three runs two innings later. But the Navigators came to life in the fourth and fifth innings, first trimming the deficit down to one, before taking the lead altogether with a 3-run fifth that was highlighted by a 2-run homer from centerfielder Will Banning.
But even with 11 hits, Hampton had just five runs to show for it before STAB put together its big inning.
Sophomore Matt Morris − who picked up the win in his two innings of relief − started the rally with a lead-off walk. Then both Cole Marston and Dustin Baelow laid down bunts that the Navigator defense fumbled. That gave the Saints the bases loaded with nobody out.
From that point on, the Saints put the ball in play and watched as Hampton Roads could not make a play on defense – ultimately setting the table for Siciliano.
And even after the big hit that put STAB up by four, the runs continued to come in. Kevin White delivered an RBI triple and then capped off the scoring by taking home on another wild pitch.
“Normally a couple of mental errors will lead to a couple of physical errors, it’s classic baseball,” said Hampton Roads coach Tommy Yevak. “We can sustain a few mistakes, but that was seven errors in my book. That’s ridiculous.”
Morris walked his first batter in the top of the seventh inning on for straight pitches, but recovered shortly thereafter and forced the Navigators to burn up their outs to bring the run home.
Siciliano finished the game 2 for 3 with two runs scored and 3 RBI. White wound up 2 for 4.
The Saints (2-0) will host John Paul the Great today at 6:30 p.m.
