Prep Baseball Report

A Big Sixth Inning Propels Marian Catholic Past No. 19 Nazareth



By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Marian Catholic 6, No. 19 Nazareth 4

LAGRANGE, IL – No. 19 Nazareth looked to have taken control of the game against Marian Catholic after putting up two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 4-2 lead. Marian Catholic, however, answered with four runs of their own in the next half inning propelling them to a 6-4 victory on Monday afternoon.

With one out, a runner on first and trailing 4-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Marian Catholic (15-6) right-fielder Wyell Woods stepped to the plate. Woods got a fastball on a 1-1 count and drilled a line-drive over the right-center field fence for a game tying two-run home run. Later in the inning, Mark DiLuia came to the plate with the bases loaded, the game tied and two outs. With two strikes Diluia lined a ball to deep center field. Joe Muscolino, the Nazareth (16-5) center fielder, got a good jump, ranged toward the center field wall and jumped to make the catch. It looked to be the third out of the inning and spectacular jumping, diving catch, until Muscolino fell to the ground and the ball popped out of his glove. The double by DiLuia scored two runs and gave the Spartans the 6-4 lead they would hold onto for the victory.

With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Nazareth got their own two out, two strike extra-base hit. Catcher Shane Gipson, a New Mexico recruit, delivered the big hit, giving Nazareth a 4-2 lead with a 2-run triple off of the center field wall.

Both starters, junior Mark DiLuia for Marian Catholic and senior Richie Kiernicki for Nazareth settled in after each gave up two runs in the first inning. DiLuia, a Maryland commit, did not have his normal command that we have been accustomed to seeing but he battled throughout. His fastball sat 82-86 mph with arm-side-run. He mixed in a breaking ball with slurvy action at 68-72 mph and a changeup at 76-78 mph. Kiernicki, a College of Dupage recruit, went after hitters with a fastball/curveball mix throughout. His fastball sat 80-83 mph early on. Curveball, worked 11/5 with depth at 65-66 mph.

Both of these teams will face off again on Wednesday afternoon at Marian Catholic.

More in-depth player notes will be posted in the Illinois Scout Blog later.

STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
+ RHP Mark DiLuia (Marian Catholic) – 5IP, 8H, 1ER, 8K
+ RHP Ethan Kelly (Marian Catholic) – 2IP, 1H, 0R, 2K, BB
+ CF Christian Beal (Marian Catholic) – 3-for-4, 2R, SB
+ RF Wyell Woods (Marian Catholic) – 1-for-3, HR, 2RBI, R
+ SS Carson Bartels (Nazareth) – 4-for-4, 2R
+ C Shane Gipson (Nazareth) – 1-for-4, 3B, 2RBI
+ RHP Richie Kiernicki (Nazareth) – 5.2IP, 8H, 3ER, 2K, 3BB

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